One person standing with the one in a wheelchair and both staring at the LED screen in front of them

Museums & Cultural Sites

National World War I Museum and Memorial

Kansas City, Missouri

Read more about the project

OVERVIEW
BACKGROUND
PARTNERSHIP
IMPACT
DETAILS

Soldiers' reenactment trudging through a muddy environment with a over casted shadow.

 

Technology brings the stories of the Great War to life.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is redefining immersive storytelling. Here, history isn’t just learned—it’s felt through connection with the past. This vision comes to life in the new Encounters exhibit, along with a technological refresh of the museum’s gallery spaces, creating powerful ways to connect with the past. 

 

Encounters introduces 16 authentic personal stories through a 1.25mm Nanolumens LED display paired with Christie projection and a HOLOPLOT spatial audio for an intimate, one-to-one experience. Across the Museum and Memorial, advanced audiovisual (AV) technology deepens the impact—from Horizons Theater, where Christie projection, lighting and a life-sized diorama recreate the brutal conditions of trench warfare, to Battlescapes, where guests step inside a crater and experience the intensity of artillery combat. 

 

Combined with PIXERA media servers and the ISAAC AV Workflow platform, these exhibits create a visceral journey into the human stories, struggles and realities of the Great War. To bring this vision to life, Electrosonic worked with a leading project team to design, engineer and integrate cutting-edge audiovisual and acoustic technologies. 

 

Soldiers' reenactment trudging through a muddy environment with a over casted shadow.

 

Preserving history while elevating experience.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is dedicated to remembering, interpreting and understanding the Great War and its enduring impact on the global community. Since 1926 the Museum and Memorial has stood as a beacon for democracy and remembrance in the heart of downtown Kansas City, MO. In 2006, the Museum beneath the original structure was built and opened to international acclaim. Almost two decades later, while still one of the world’s great museums, it needed an upgrade. This work was guided by a strategic plan that prioritized the creation of a richer and more immersive visitor experience by refreshing and expanding the galleries and access to the Museum and Memorial’s collection. 

 

This project enables the Museum and Memorial to reach that goal by integrating technology that allows visitors to explore the impact of World War I through different learning styles. The Museum and Memorial aimed to seamlessly update the technology and visitor experience within the Main Gallery, while continuing their legacy of providing world-class exhibitions and educational programs that engage diverse audiences. 

 

The Museum and Memorial required a company that they trusted as an expert in audiovisual technology and that they knew could offer solutions that transform imagination into experience. Electrosonic was chosen for its extensive background in immersive audiovisual exhibits. The 20-year history between Electrosonic (a partner on the original Museum opening in 2006) and the Museum and Memorial enabled fluid communication and a successful project outcome.  

 

Electrosonic carefully integrated new technology with existing structures to create a new experience while preserving the authenticity of history. These renovations were completed with the Museum remaining open to visitors throughout the entire upgrade. Close communication and on-site fabrication were the contributing factors to the project’s completion.  

Soldiers' reenactment trudging through a muddy environment with a over casted shadow.

 

Turning vision into reality through world-class AV collaboration.

By joining forces with industry leaders such as AV Stumpfl/ PIXERA, Christie, Dot Crew, HOLOPLOT, ISSAC, JE Dunn, Nanolumens, Ralph Applebaum Associates, Smart Monkeys and Technical Artistry, Electrosonic helped deliver an experience unlike any other. 

 

Christie provided specialty projectors that help consistently display the media throughout Battlescapes, Kemper Horizon Theater and Encounters. Nanolumens LED is used to elevate storytelling through the museum. HOLOPLOT speakers incorporate directional audio beams into the Encounters exhibit, creating a sound bubble around visitors to immerse them in the experience. ISAAC is the AV workflow platform that helps process the data of the museum’s media, integrating with PIXERA media servers.  

 

In the Encounters exhibit, Ralph Applebaum provided exhibit design, while the media designer and production led by Dot Crew, the lighting design by Technical Artistry and fabrication by JE Dunn Construction. 

The partnership fostered efficient communication among all parties, ensuring a consistent, seamless approach from start to finish in delivering this world-class museum. 

Soldiers' reenactment trudging through a muddy environment with a over casted shadow.

 

Inspiring reflection, one story at a time.

The Museum and Memorial’s advanced AV technology allows guests to step directly into the stories of the war, interpreting the history of World War I in a way that encourages thought and empathy for those who lived through the conflict. Designed to engage with different learning styles, the new technology reflects the Museum and Memorial’s mission of remembering, interpreting and understanding the Great War and its enduring impact on the global community. A striking example is the new interactive touch tables, which invite visitors to take on the role of a soldier navigating communication across a battlefield or a shipment to allies across the sea. 

 

This immersive approach transforms history from distant facts into rich, personal experiences, leaving visitors with a deeper understanding of war’s realities as well as its great costs to humanity. By engaging both the mind and the senses, the new exhibits educate, inspire reflection and honor the courage, patriotism and sacrifice of all who served in World War I. 

Location:
Kansas City, Missouri

Size:
80,000 square feet

Project partners:
Available Light, Donna Lawrence, Dot Crew, JE Dunn Construction, RLMG, Smart Monkeys, Taylor Studios and Technical Artistry

Technology partners:
Christie, HOLOPLOT, QSC, Nanolumens, Pixera and Smart Monkeys, TSI Touch

Services

Technology Design

  • AV Consulting 
  • Concept Design
  • Schematic Design
  • Design Development
  • Construction Documentation
  • Executive Consulting 

Build & System Integration

  • Design Validation & Engineering
  • Software & User Interface Development
  • Fabrication
  • Installation
  • Testing & Commissioning
  • Training & Adoption
     

 

WINDOWS INTO HISTORY

Encounters: A face-to-face journey into the stories of the Great War

Encounters is an interactive exhibit that uses immersive technology to bring the Great War to life, sharing the powerful stories of 16 individuals from their personal historical accounts of the war. Using source material of diaries, letters and photos the actors that visitors see on screen are as authentic as historically possible. Guests experience 16 unique stories within the 4 alcoves, allowing the visitor to hear unique perspectives from all walks of society impacted by the war – combat soldiers, women munitions workers, colonial soldiers, a child, a dissenter and more. Sensor technology triggers an interactive experience that brings the guest face-to-face with one of the 16 individuals.

As the character approaches the screen, LED light strips positioned to the side walls begin to flash, creating a life-like shadow effect. Once the story begins, Christie projectors create a forward shadow on the floor, transforming a 2D Nanolumens LED screen into a 3D portal effect as if visitors are looking back into a window of history. Using a HOLOPLOT sound system, Encounters creates a sound bubble in each alcove that surrounds guests and further immerses them in the experience. This allows all alcoves to be running at the same time without disrupting the visitor experience.  

 

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Life-Sized Depiction

In the trenches: the reality of war

Upon watching a prologue video that introduces the origin of the Great War, guests are greeted by a striking exhibit. At the Kemper Horizons Theater, lightning flashes over a mud-soaked diorama as a story unfolds on screen to explain the events leading up to America's entry into the war. The media displays the excruciating conditions of trench warfare, with an emphasis placed on the muddy environment soldiers endured throughout the conflict. 
LIVING HISTORIES

Step into the chaos of the Great War

Battlescapes transports guests into a recreated artillery crater, placing them in the heart of the battlefield. Surrounding film projections depict the chaos and devastation of World War I as heavy artillery pounds the landscape; explosions ripple through the trenches and the soldiers run to take cover as the bullets fly overhead. The crater’s uneven walls, textured surfaces and the 5 projectors in a conical pattern, create a convex shape, adding to the realism.

Visitors may feel as though they are standing at the front lines. Guests become immersed in the sights and sounds of the brutal reality of trench warfare—conveying not only the violence of battle, but also the vulnerability of the soldiers who endured it. 
The interior of the Museum with structural beams
A cannon with a wall that has historical events and memorabilia.
A tank with a screen in front of the display.
A beam that has the information of the exhibit on it with media projected around it.
A square room with media displayed on top of the room with information spaced out.
A woman and a child interacting with a touch table.
An exhibit with a woman and two injured soldiers.
An exhibit with displayed media and a hanging model airplane.
Battlescapes exhibit with a large media display and a soldier diorama in the front.
The entrance to the Encounters exhibit with a large video wall.
Two alcoves in the Encounters exhibit with people interacting with the characters.
A man standing in front of four LED walls.
A man standing in front of a character on the LED wall.
A man standing in front of a LED wall looking at the character
Two alcoves in the Encounters exhibit with characters on the screen.
Two visitors playing with a interactive board

Explore how museums use technology to transform the personal museum experience. 

Learn how museums are incorporating elements of audiovisual technology to elevate visitor experience, creating dynamic and educational environments.  

READ MORE
Our goal was to make the museum more immersive and Electrosonic helped make that happen by bringing in the technology that made it possible for people to come in and experience the war and what we have to offer in a brand-new way.
Chris Wyche, Vice President of Facilities, Public Safety and Technology, National WWI Museum and Memorial
Electrosonic

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