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Datarama

A walk-in projection cylinder for audiovisual and interactive data exploration allows what is usually not possible: A “look behind the scenes” of the museum. Visitors can virtually and interactively discover the scientific collections, meet the scientists and get to know their research work.

Citizen Science: Identification App for Soil Animals

Only a few scientists are still active in reasearch about soil animals and the literature on their identification is limited. However, knowledge of these “less attractive”, barely visible groups of organisms is nevertheless of great importance. The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Görlitz is developing an online portal for about 250 local species of native bipeds (Diplopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda) and landraces (Oniscidea). The interactive identification key is intended for both browser and smartphone and beginners as well as advanced users will be able to report their findings to the international research database.

Landscape Photo Portal

The aim of the digital platform is to collect private photographic material which is digitised and thus secured for future analysis and biodiversity research. The historical landscape photographs will contribute the documentation of environmental changes over the past century.

Virtual Reality

Do you know that on 1 m² of ground live more organisms than human beings in the world? Most of us don’t know how important these animals are for fertility of the soils and thus also for us. The Virtual Reality application “Soil Adventure” let visitors dive right into the vibrant living space under our feet: Instead of looking through a microscope, users are virtually reduced by 200 times to the size of a woodlouse and can digitally meet a variety of organisms in three different worlds.

Publication: https://www.vi-mm.eu/project/adventure-soil-life-a-virtual-journey-through-an-unknown-world/

Flight above Neisse River spanning two centuries: a virtual trip through time and space

The animated video ‘Flight above Neisse River’ brings to life the rural and urban development of four different areas along the Neisse River during the past 2000 years. Designed for 2D and 3D presentation, the animation combines current drone recordings with elaborate and realistic visualisations of historical land- and townscapes of 1550 and 1910. Such profound reconstructions of the Neisse River in past times were realised in close collaboration of scientists of the Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz, historians of the Görlitzer Sammlungen and software developers of .hapto GmbH.

3D animated formation of the volcano Landeskrone

The animation visualises the geological formation of the former volcano up to the conical mountain nowadays. Starting with a current view of the mountain, we travel back in time up to the geological situation 32 million years ago. Lifelike animated landscapes depicting the prevailing climate situation at that time as well as soundscapes of volcanic activity reinforce an immersive experience. Emerging from an ancient forest, the viewer witnesses the gradually changing landscape from a bird’s perspective: Multiple explosions shape the volcanic cone; lava lakes fill up and cool down, finally, millions of years of landscape erosion form the current mountain shape. A time scale guides through the different volcanic formation processes up to the current view to the conical mountain Landeskrone.