View the Wall.

June 28, 2002 9:50 AM

View the Wall. Recently a group of photographers took photos of every name on the Vietnam Memorial, did some magic in Quicktime VR, and now you can search the entire wall virtually. Nothing is as good as actually being there, but this is a close second.
posted by jragon (13 comments total)

Incredible. Thanks for the link.
posted by bradth27 at 10:12 AM on June 28, 2002

Same here. Thanks jragon
posted by matteo at 10:20 AM on June 28, 2002

Wow. Great link, jragon.
posted by DakotaPaul at 10:57 AM on June 28, 2002

Thanks for that. I can't believe it makes me just as weepy in virtual form as it did in real life...but it did make it easier to find my family member, which was nice.
posted by dejah420 at 11:13 AM on June 28, 2002

Distant third, maybe (after "the Moving Wall" traveling exhibit). IMHO, the navigation on this is pretty klutzy. It is NOT pictures of every name, it's just pictures of the panels, and you have to navigate around them. The navigation clues on the popup don't mention that you've got to drag the picture around with your mouse to get to lower rows or to move right and left. For some reason the names are dark and then slowly illuminate.

Maybe this is an intentional part of the virtual memorial experience, just like hunting for names is part of the experience at the actual place?
posted by beagle at 11:20 AM on June 28, 2002

I had to go to the quicktime version...it seems to autolaunch in java mode, but once in quicktime, I could pretty easily zoom in on the name I was looking for.
posted by dejah420 at 11:38 AM on June 28, 2002

Good link, but I have an Irishman's beef when it comes to finding a last name containing an apostrophe. I don't care what SQL sez: it's "O'Brien", not "Obrien".

Class action suit, fellow Irishmen? (Against Microsoft, of course -- I'd never intrude on the workings of the Wall, one of the only appropriate monuments in the history of the US)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:40 PM on June 28, 2002

"Class action suit, fellow Irishmen?"

Sign me up. It's especially galling when the point of the monument is the name.
posted by majick at 12:46 PM on June 28, 2002

I tried to do a rubbing but I think I just broke my LCD screen.
posted by KnitWit at 1:12 PM on June 28, 2002

Nice attention to detail - the site uses Optima for its graphics, the same typeface as the names on the memorial itself.
posted by tepidmonkey at 1:50 PM on June 28, 2002

I thought of webcams a while back for disabled veterans who were unable to go see the wall in person. This is such a great idea. Thanks again for the link!
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 3:50 PM on June 28, 2002

This is a fine example of how the web can actually make the world a better place. Thanks.
posted by tommasz at 3:57 PM on June 28, 2002

Nice concept, but lacking in execution. When was the last time you saw an interface that didn't do anything when you clicked on it? Also, if you do something like click on the Zoom icon, that changes the focus off the app, so now A and Z don't work at all.
posted by smackfu at 10:41 PM on June 28, 2002