2014

The presentation explains how modern technology is used to explain living conditions and housing of the settlers in Reykjavik, using a virtual 3-D model and other media. The settlement exhibition is focused on the interpretation of the ruins, of the long house. It engages all the senses, e.g. sound, smell and sight, enriching the presentation in a playful fashion.

The longhouse site, which is located about two metres beneath present-day ground level, underneath a new hotel in the city centre, is surrounded by a dark-blue oval exhibition wall, into which a panoramic photograph of the view from the site is set, altered to show the environment of the early settlers. An illuminated stripe in the wall indicates the surface level at the time when the Settlement Layer of tephra fell in 871 +/- 2.

Visitors can explore cultural affinities between the nations around the North Atlantic, and Viking expansion and settlements during the Viking Age.

Submitted by: The Reykjavik City Museum and Gagarin ehf.

Presented by: Hjörleifur Stefánsson, architect and Gudny Karadottir, managing director of Gagarin

Type of project: Interactive multimedia installation in an archaeological exhibition

Tech spec:

Media content developed with Adobe Creative Suite2, After effects, 3D StudioMax and Flash.

XML programming in Java and Actionscript.

3 PCs
11 Monitors 15" / 32" and 46"
12 Video players
3 SXGA Projectors
Rear projection
6 interactive terminals with LED light strips
Interface with capacitive touch screen 19"
FireWire XGA camera
Sensory system to track interaction
Sensory system to track approach
Audio control