VIKUS Viewer

d3-js , exhibition , vizualisation , zoomable-interface , openGLAM
A web-based visualization system that arranges thousands of cultural artifacts on a dynamic canvas and supports the exploration of thematic and temporal patterns of large collections.

VIKUS Viewer is a web-based visualization system that arranges thousands of cultural artifacts on a dynamic canvas and supports the exploration of thematic and temporal patterns of large collections, while providing rapid access to high-resolution imagery.

Cultural collections feature three fundamental facets that are essential to make sense of their contents: time, themes, and texture. The time an artifact was created provides essential context to make sense of the themes it depicts and its visual texture. The VIKUS Viewer offers an interactive environment to explore a wide range of cultural collections along these three aspects.

The VIKUS Viewer software is based on the code behind Past Visions, a collaborative effort by Katrin Glinka, Marian Dörk and me. The goal was to transform the functionality of the prototype into a tool which can be used on other collections.

This project was carried out in cooperation with the Urban Complexity Lab, the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation (SPSG), the Research Center Sanssouci (RECS), and Forschungsverbund Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel (MWW).

Currently it is deployed on the following collections: FW4, Goethes Ausleihen, RECS Flugschriften, Sammlung Burggrafen, Van Gogh, Art Of The March