The BiographScope: Exploring Early Cinema in an Immersive Environment

Abstract

This paper presents a new interactive installation, the BiographScope , meant to immerse visitors in an archival collection of early silent films from the turn of the twentieth century. It further investigates certain important aspects through a pilot study. The frames of seventy films from the Eye Filmmuseum’s Mutoscope and Biograph Collection are digitally reconstructed and distributed in a virtual world that users can freely browse and explore in a 360-degree Immersive Environment. They are able to appreciate the exceptional materiality of these films, discover them at large-scale projection and benefit from a thorough sonification process. The pilot study finds that visitors appreciate this mode of access to a silent film collection. Experts on early cinema in particular have noticed certain aspects of the materiality of these films, while casual users benefited more from the sonification process. Finally, participants reported mainly positive emotions: interest, joy and surprise, thus confirming the BiographScope can improve access to the Mutoscope and Biograph Collection.