URL: http://apps.harvardartmuseums.org/lightbox/

 

Virtual Lightbox Gallery is an interactive Web3D-based application designed for the Harvard Art Museums. The web app serves as a collaboration tool to for the Museums' collaborators to view previous Lightbox projects and test their web-based projects in the interactive virtual gallery during the project development phase. The following are the four primary functions and goals of this web app. 

 

1. By presenting projects in an interactive 3-D platform, this web app encourages collaborators to think the Lightbox as a space instead of just a flat video wall.
2. The virtual gallery includes 12 sample projects in the H/ menu, which allows users to explore and interact with the previous Lightbox projects. It also briefly introduces the abilities and possibilities of the Lightbox Gallery.
3. Remote and local collaborators can enter a project's URL and then check the look and feel of the project on the video wall in this web app.   
4. This web app is also a platform for digitalizing and preserving the past Ligthbox projects from November 2014 to June 2016. After entering the URL of a project, users can view and interact with the project in the virtual gallery. 

The Lightbox Gallery is a new digital technology-based gallery in the Harvard Art Museums. It is built as an open-ended platform and targets a variety of uses such as presenting digital artworks, supporting collaborative projects, and hosting experimental courses. Although the gallery is equipped with various cutting-edge technology infrastructure and features infinite possibilities, the open-ended setting often confuses people and creates a barrier in collaboration and imagining the space.

 

In order to let project collaborators learn more about the capabilities and possible uses of Lightbox Gallery, I started to design and build the Virtual Lightbox Gallery web app from August 2015. WIth the help of the Web3D engine, I utilized Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create the images of the Lightbox walls, and I intergated them with the Web3D platform to create the virtual gallery without any 3D software.Part of the web app was developed by using Adobe softwares. The app is developed for easy maintenance. By using Adobe softwares, staff in the Museums with basic HTML5 knowledge can upload new projects and modify the content of the web app based on projects’ needs. 

The virtual Lightbox Gallery provides users the look and feel of the Gallery, as well as featured digital installations in a 3D space. Collaborators not only can select and view various Lightbox projects, but also interact with the selected projects on the virtual video wall just like they do in the physical gallery. Over the past nine months, the Virtual Lightbox Gallery has been the official project demonstration platform and project development tool for twenty projects with collaborators ranging from curators, conservators, archivists, program developers, artists, photographers, design firms, faculty/students, and astrophysics across and beyond the Museums’ community.

* Note: Using Chrome or Firefox on a desktop computer to open the web app is suggested. The web app may not work on computers/laptops without graphic cards/drivers that support WebGL. Click the H/ icon to show the menu, and you can type your website URL to the input box. Your site will be shown on the video wall in the virtual gallery. As long as your site can be embedded in <iframe>, you ought to view and interact with your site in the virtual gallery.