Dear Museum Computer Group, 

 

With apologies for any cross-posting, but I thought some of you might be
interested in the technologies underpinning the new 'Europeana Remix',
announced yesterday. 

 

The first person to say 'accessibility' wins a kitkat. 

 

Yours sincerely, 

 

Nick 

 

From: CCPA-members [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Anna van den Broek
Sent: 26 September 2011 15:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Europeana trials new software in Remix launch

 

The Hague, 26 September 2011                      For immediate release

 

 

Europeana trials new software in Remix launch

 

Europeana, the digital library, museum and archive, has opened a new
interactive video space, Europeana Remix <http://remix.europeana.eu/> ,
which enriches a short film on a First World War friendship using the
latest HTML5 and Popcorn.js <http://popcornjs.org/>  technology.

 

Europeana Remix plays the video in HTML5, and uses the Popcorn.js
framework to let users call up resources that are related to the story,
from Europeana, Flickr, Wikipedia, Oxford University, Google maps and
other web services. Users can leave comments at any point and share
their stories or URLs. "Europeana Remix gives users a new experience of
inter-relating cultural content without leaving the video space," says
Harry Verwayen, Europeana's Business Development Director. "It will be
exciting to see how this new technology affects the way that people get
involved with stories on the web."

 

Europeana is experimenting with HTML5 to create new interactive cultural
experiences, and because HTML5 is fast, seamless and unobtrusive. HTML5
is set to become a standard way to play video online. Popcorn.js, a new
Javascript framework, is used because it utilises the great new features
of HTML5 and combines web resources seamlessly to the movie player to
give the user greater choice and interactivity.

 

Using leading new technologies to engage users with cultural heritage is
central to Europeana's mission and puts the Commission-Funded project
ahead of the curve. "Europeana Remix ' use of HTML5 web video and the
Popcorn.js framework is both a technical and aesthetic leap for web
video,"  says Brian Chirls <http://chirls.com/> , the code-developer
behind the project, and a leader in interactive video.

 

Indeed, Remix is so advanced that it plays only on the latest version of
web browsers -

Firefox            Chrome          Safari              IE         Opera


4.0+                4.0+                4.0+                9+
10.5+             

 

In order to allow others to make free use of this ground-breaking
development as the basis for new applications, the Remix source code has
been made available on GitHub <https://github.com/> , the collaborative
code repository for programmers. The film itself and all user
contributions are licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

 

Brett Gaylor <http://brettgaylor.tumblr.com/about> , of Mozilla
Foundation <http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/> , the Open Source web
innovation driver, says, "It's exciting to see Mozilla's Popcorn
technology used in such a creative way. The developers of the Europeana
Remix project have pushed video to the cutting edge - it is a fantastic
use of archives, web services and user generated content."

 

 

ENDS

 

 

For further information contact : [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>  

Direct line: +31 [0] 70 314 0622

 

 

 

Links:

Europeana.eu <http://europeana.eu/portal/> 

Europeana Remix <http://remix.europeana.eu/> 

Europeana 1914-1918 <http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en> 

 

Notes for Editors

 

Europeana brings together the digitised content of Europe's galleries,
libraries, museums, archives and audiovisual collections. Currently
Europeana gives integrated access to 20 million books, films, paintings,
museum objects and archival documents from some 1500 content providers.
The content is drawn from every European member state and the interface
is in 27 European languages. Europeana receives its main funding from
the European Commission.

 

Europeana's core mission is to engage audiences with digitised cultural
content. This is not simply to put the digital files online, but to
create innovative tools and methods of access and interaction. The aim
is to renew the relevance of our cultural heritage and enable its
stories to be told in new ways.

 

The source video for Europeana Remix, Otto and Bernard, the story of an
unlikely friendship, was made to promote the Europeana 1914-1918 project
in Germany. The project encourages people to digitise their own family
documents and memorabilia from the First World War and share them with
Europeana.

 

Knowledgeland (www.knowledgeland.org <http://www.kennisland.nl/en> )

The concept behind Europeana Remix was developed by Knowledgeland, where
Thijs van Exel co-ordinated the realisation. Knowledgeland is an
independent think tank searching for ways to spark the social
innovations needed to improve the knowledge society. Active in
education, government, cultural heritage, copyright, creative economy
and social media, Knowledgeland strives to innovate these fields, often
in collaboration with partners and networks.

 

Three Eyed Labs / Brian Chirls (www.chirls.com <http://chirls.com/> )

Brian Chirls is a media artist, technologist and founder of Three Eyed
Labs, a research and development lab based in New York, developing
original cross-media content, tools and innovative business models for
filmmakers, journalists and musicians.

 

BigUp / Harold van Velsen (werk.bigup.nl <http://werk.bigup.nl/> )

Europeana Remix was designed by Harold van Velsen, an experienced
graphic & interaction designer. He has built an impressive portfolio
with several leading interactive agencies, and founded BigUp in 2010.

 

Best regards,

---
Anna van den Broek
Jr. Marketing Assistant
www.europeana.eu <http://www.europeana.eu/> 

Phone: +31 (0)70 31 40 911 
Email: [log in to unmask]
Skype: Annavdbrk



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