3D Holocaust survivor hologram project on show at V&A museum
Visitors able to interact with a groundbreaking initiative developed by the National Holocaust Centre
Visitors to the Victoria and Albert Museum were this week saw a new interactive project showing survivors in 3D hologram recalling the Shoah.
The Forever Project, developed by the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Nottinghamshire, is running at the V&A until Friday this week, and lets visitors ask survivors questions.
Using state-of-the-art language processing and voice recognition software, the survivors are able to answer visitors’ questions, by working out what is being asked and immediately retrieving one of thousands of pre-recorded answers.
Among the survivors interacting with visitors is Steven Frank, a survivor of Nazi persecution, answering questions about what he lived through and why everyone should learn about the Holocaust today.
Organisers say this technique lets the audience engage with survivors’ testimony more deeply than would be possible with a normal film, preserving the experience of meeting a survivor of the Holocaust, as numbers dwindle with time.
“It is a sad reality that there will come a time when survivors will no longer be able to be with us to tell us their stories,” said Sir Peter Bazalgette, chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.
“Yet we need to hear these stories now more than ever – to understand what it is that can break society apart and how we can play our part in standing up to hatred, whatever form it may appear in.”
He added: “One of the first acts of the Foundation was to recommend that government fund this project, which goes to the heart of our mission to support educational partners across the country in their work to preserve and share the stories of the Holocaust.”
The exhibition in the Raphael Gallery came about through the V&A’s partnership with the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, and is positioned alongside models of shortlisted designs for the new national Holocaust Memorial in Westminster.
Visitors can see the designs from ten shortlisted teams for the new Memorial and Learning Centre, to be built next to the Houses of Parliament, and give their feedback on which designs they like and why.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
