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In their museum Zeitgeschichtliches Forum in Leipzig, the Foundation Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany) casts a focused look on the complex transformation processes of German reunification since 1989.

The redesign of the final area of the permanent exhibition gave the museum the opportunity to rethink and restage content and present it in new formats.

Together with the agency Eydos and Studio MUX, Realtime Visions realized two central expansive media installations for the exhibition, as well as additional complementary media units.

Storytelling with Numbers

Under the guiding question "Where do we stand?", at the end of the exhibition route, a statistical retrospective on more than 30 years of reunification is presented. In close collaboration with the museum's curators, the underlying data and content were shaped into narrative threads and staged expansively. Eleven large monitors encompass the visitors in a U-shape, immersively placing them within an abstract virtual landscape.

In this topographic setting, the camera pans in four directions – four chapters, in which topics such as internal migration, representation in leadership positions, and living conditions in East and West are illuminated, narrated through vivid images and visualizations, and supported with statistical evaluations and diagrams. Thus, numbers are transformed into currents, positions, and gravitational points.

The content displayed is dynamically generated from extensive datasets in real time and immediately played live. This enables the content to be updated and new chapters to be added to the narrative at any time. Therefore, the question "Where do we stand?" can always be answered with the most current information.

Questions Looming in the Space and Beyond

That beyond the question "Where do we stand?" many more questions of transformation are still pending becomes literally tangible with the second media installation at the end of the exhibition. The installation positions itself as a central element in the room, emerging as a beacon of light.

The round podium, framed by a controllable light strip and designed with a diameter of 4 meters for use as a stage element during events, transforms with the projection of a bright image from two combined projectors onto its surface into a prominent media object.

From the projected fluid cloud of colors, questions ascend to the visitors, only to diffuse into a stele standing next to the podium after circulating around the edge of the projection. Here, the virtual questions transition into the physical world. By activating the button on the stele, a light wave is sent across the projection and a question is printed out as a paper strip by the internal printer. Thus, the questions of transformation can physically accompany the visitors, extending their presence beyond the museum.

Voices and Opinions

In visual harmony with the large media installations, additional media stations are positioned as satellites throughout the room, where experiential reports and opinions on the events are offered through interviews.

A survey station, by means of statistical evaluation, ultimately offers a glimpse into the mood of the visitors.

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Facts

For / Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Location / Leipzig

Year / 2023

Area / Interactive Multimedia

Services / 

Concept / Design / Hardware Planing / Software Development / Deployment / Supply

Photos: Lars Becker, Eydos GmbH