History is a fascinating combination of facts and interpretations that we tend to engage with only tangentially. Museums aim to bring these events to life—through artifacts, immersive exhibits, and personal narratives—to help us better connect with the past.
But what if you could go beyond reading about history and actually speak with someone who lived it?
Now, that’s possible.
To preserve firsthand accounts, a groundbreaking initiative recorded interviews with survivors of a significant historical event, asking them 1,000 questions about their personal experiences. Using specialized cameras, these conversations were captured from 70 angles, creating a library of deeply immersive recordings.
Then, AI took it further.
Now, visitors in museums around the world can engage in real-time conversations with these survivors, brought to life as 3D holograms. Custom voice-interactive technology simulates an authentic dialogue, seamlessly matching a visitor’s question with the closest response from the recorded testimony.
It feels like sitting across from someone who was there—seeing them, hearing them, and asking them anything.
This groundbreaking project, “Dimensions in Testimony,” was created by the USC Shoah Foundation—capturing the voices of Holocaust survivors so their stories remain personal, and real.
This isn’t just about preserving history. It’s about experiencing it.
Facts become personal stories.
Events become human.
And through technology, these conversations build bridges.
“We all come with our own biases, but when we get to learn about somebody’s experience that is different, we start to see the world in a different way and we become more tolerant,” says Ryan Fenton-Strauss, Director at the USC Shoah Foundation.
Their interactive biographies are now available in 10 languages at 185 sites worldwide.
This is innovation—looking at what is and rethinking it, with the help of technology.
That’s how history became a conversation.
What in your world could benefit from this perspective?
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