Improving Access to a National Memorial National Park Service, Bluecadet

The National Park service wanted to offer people a meaningful virtual experience of the Lincoln Memorial, making it accessible and engaging to a broader audience. We developed an interactive tour allowing visitors to explore the memorial in detail. The tour integrated high-quality videos, still photography, and immersive panoramas to create a comprehensive virtual experience.

Spherical panoramic photography was utilized to capture every inch of the memorial. This approach enabled virtual visitors to “walk” around and explore 21 different vantage points, offering a sensation of being physically present at the site.

The panoramas included interactive triggers that revealed detailed still photographs of significant elements of the memorial, which could be explored using an interactive zoom feature.

A key highlight was the inclusion of video interviews with park rangers. Their personal narratives, combined with still photography, on-location video, archival footage, and music, created a powerful and emotive connection to the memorial's history.

The design worked as well as it did because it let the content speak for itself, rather than relying heavily on technological gimmicks. This approach facilitated a more profound connection between the virtual visitors and the memorial, making historical events and figures more relatable and tangible.

Ensuring that the experience was universally accessible, the website offered various ways to engage with the content. This included captioned videos, downloadable audio, and an HTML-only version of the site with transcriptions and detailed image descriptions.