Gallipoli: The First Day

ABC Innovation Web Application

The ABC wanted to use a 3D environment to enable web users to gain a deeper understanding of what it was like to be at the Gallipoli landings in 1915. They also wanted a way to show the great variety of archival content (photography, diaries, oral history etc) in context. The DIU were able to provide the ABC significant assistance in the structuring of the many thousands of separate records that make up the collection. We also worked closely with Harvey Broadbent from Macquarie University to ensure that maps and other material were correctly sourced and appropriate. Using Heurist as the backend for the project gave the ABC a new way to look and information. We were told that they couldn’t have done the project without Heurist and in the end the site was awarded the inaugural AFI Screen Innovation Award.

Innovation

The database that sits behind the public site is a highly related graph like structure with no built in hierarchy. There is no specific starting point and no fixed navigational path. The way this is integrated with the high quality 3D graphics and the intelligent interface design means users can discover their own pathways thus adding immeasurably to the learning experience.

Methodology

While the ambitious final output was unusual this project began in a similar way to many others with standard systems analysis procedures to determine the correct data model. ABC staff also had to be introduced to the Heurist way of doing things – specifically, flexible record types and an “everything is related” approach to the world. Fairly soon into the project the team at the ABC caught on and started entering vast quantities of event, person and multimedia records and linking them all together. We were not involved in producing any final output but instead the corporation relied on the sophisticated XML output methods provided by Heurist and in the process we got to test and refine these.

Outcomes

A major public history website and an ongoing research resource in the form of Heurist. The ABC were awarded the AFI’s inaugural Award for Screen Content Innovation in 2009. The award citation states:

The AFI Award for Screen Content Innovation is an award in recognition of creativity within the screen industry. This award showcases the successful employment of new media tools to either extend traditional formats or develop new formats, and in so doing create more rewarding and engaging audience experiences.

Delivering storytelling in a pioneering three dimensional documentary style, Gallipoli: The First Day empowers users to navigate sophisticated narratives, creating their own unique experiences.