More than a Static Exhibit: The Experience that Won a 2026 Digital Signage Award

Electrosonic, the award-winning audiovisual and technology services company's work on recent technology-led upgrades at the National WWI Museum and Memorial was recognized with a Digital Signage Award for 'Immersive & Experimental Environment of the Year'. The project demonstrates how innovation, immersion and technology-enabled storytelling can transform history into an emotionally resonant visitor experience. 

Innovative storytelling recreates personal war experiences with emotional impact.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is dedicated to remembering, interpreting and understanding the Great War. The Museum developed a strategic upgrade plan to create a richer and more immersive visitor experience throughout the 80,000-square-foot space, working in collaboration with Electrosonic and a team of world-class partners. Now, visitors don’t just learn about the War — they step into it in a way that feels immediate, human and emotionally resonant.

The reimagining of the museum experience is brought to life through a series of immersive exhibits designed to place visitors closer to the human realities of World War I. Each exhibit combines historical scholarship, advanced technology and experiential storytelling to deepen understanding and emotional connection.

At the heart of this transformation is Encounters, an exhibit designed to help visitors understand the lived experiences and emotions of those who endured the war firsthand. The exhibit shares the powerful stories of 16 individuals through their personal historical accounts, using immersive storytelling techniques that go beyond delivering information to foster empathy and human connection.

Structured around a series of intimate, character-led alcoves, Encounters brings visitors face-to-face with individuals from the Great War. As visitors enter each alcove, sensor technology triggers interactive storytelling moments. LED light strips create lifelike shadow effects as each character appears to approach and share their story. Christie projectors create forward shadow projection, transforming a 2D Nanolumens LED screen into a dimensional portal that recreates a window into history. The HOLOPLOT audio system delivers precise sound beams that recreate the sounds of war with extraordinary realism. As one story concludes and another begins, the experience is seamlessly orchestrated through the ISAAC platform and PIXERA media servers.

Complementing this deeply personal storytelling, the Horizons Theater and Battlescapes exhibits bring visitors into the physical realities of combat. The Horizons Theater recreates the brutal conditions of trench warfare through the integration of projection, lighting and a life-sized diorama, delivering a lifelike representation of the horrors of war. Battlescapes extends this immersion further, inviting visitors to step inside a crater environment and experience the intensity and disorientation of artillery combat firsthand.

A new balanced way to tell human stories.

AV solutions like Encounters give museums powerful new ways to tell deeply human stories while preserving — and often elevating — the integrity of existing exhibits. Rather than replacing traditional artifacts or interpretation methods, experiences like this layer technology thoughtfully into the visitor journey, creating moments of connection that help audiences better understand the people, emotions and events behind history. When implemented well, immersive AV becomes an invisible storytelling partner, guiding attention, reinforcing narrative themes and helping visitors form lasting emotional memories tied to physical collections.

In an era where audiences increasingly expect experiences to be interactive, personalized and emotionally engaging, solutions like Encounters help museums meet those expectations without compromising curatorial standards. They allow institutions to translate complex or abstract historical moments into accessible, sensory-rich experiences that resonate across generations — from digital-native younger visitors to traditional museum audiences who value authenticity and scholarship.

“I’m always looking for that happy medium – using technology to enhance our story while not letting it overwhelm the history and the objects themselves,” commented Chris Warren, Curator, National WWI Museum and Memorial.

Ultimately, experiences like Encounters represent a broader shift in museum storytelling: from simply presenting history to helping visitors feel history. By carefully integrating AV into exhibit environments, museums can create moments of empathy, reflection and discovery that extend far beyond the gallery walls.

Collaboration and teamwork transform a world-class museum.

Storytelling through technology transforms the visitor experience, but it takes wide-ranging collaboration to achieve excellence.

“Encounters showcases what’s possible when a group of remarkable companies come together with one shared purpose, "said Ewan Smith, CEO, Electrosonic. "This exhibit is the result of true collaboration between the museum team, our exceptional partners, and Electronics' talented project team, all uniting to create an unforgettable visitor experience.”

Electrosonic was responsible for audiovisual design, engineering and integration of cutting-edge technologies, carefully integrating technology with existing structures and exhibits to create a totally new experience.

The project was shaped through close collaboration with Ralph Appelbaum Associates, designers of the exhibition. A broader team of industry partners, including AV Stumpfl/PIXERA, Christie, Dot Crew, HOLOPLOT, ISAAC, JE Dunn Construction, Legrand AV, Nanolumens, QSC, RLMG, Smart Monkeys, Technical Artistry and TSI Touch supported a seamless, end-to-end delivery.

About the Digital Signage Awards.

For over 16 years, the global Digital Signage Awards have been the culmination of an international search for excellence in use of digital signage and AV to create memorable visitor experiences. Presented at ISE in Barcelona, this year’s awards mirrored the themes of ISE 2026—innovation, immersive experiences, and technology-enabled storytelling—demonstrating how technology can elevate experiential environments.

“At Electrosonic, we design technology systems to support the human experience, delivering the world's best experiences driven by audiovisual technology. The empathy and emotional engagement that Encounters induces, demonstrates our team's unique ability to bring powerful museum stories to life with innovative AV solutions. Together with our partners, we’re honored to be recognized again by the Digital Signage Awards,” said Sean McChesney, Senior Vice President, North America, Electrosonic.

This project is just one example of the way Electrosonic is using immersive storytelling to elevate and redefine visitor experience in museums around the world. 

“It’s really important that visitors’ experience is rich; the ‘Encounters’ exhibit is really extraordinary – it catches your breath!  We’ve taken something that was really good and turned it into something that, I think, is one of the world’s great museums," said Matthew Naylor, CEO, National WWI Museum and Memorial.

About Electrosonic

Electrosonic is an award-winning international audiovisual and technology services company. Our team designs, builds and supports innovative, experiential and immersive environments that create lasting experiences by fusing architecture, storytelling and technology. For more than 60 years, Electrosonic has been recognized for its commitment to innovation and unsurpassed technology design, system integration and support services. Through technical consulting and strong industry partnerships, we deliver complex, world-class experiences in museums, themed entertainment, transportation, sports, enterprise, media, energy and utilities and higher education.