The Vasa is a swedish warship that capsized during its maiden voyage on 10th of August 1628. It is famous for its heavily decorated hull. A mass of over 700 sculptures of lions, warriors, phantastic figures and greek gods should humiliate and scare the enemy. Unfortunately the scientific theories on vessel design were less elaborate than the artistic or semiotic theories that led to the colorful hull design. Thus, only a light breeze sufficed to sink the splendid vessel.
The Berlin´s German Technology Museum exhibited a 1:25 model of the Vasa. With ART+COM I designed two moveable touchscreens to examine the rich ornaments on the hull of the model. In the design process we learned from the mentioned historic misconception, that led to the tragic accident. We concluded on a very reduced design and the application of new technology and old knowledge was quite balanced, leading to an installation that would accompany the main exhibit quietly.
This was one of the last application I wrote with Macromedia´s Director. And whilst programming I felt like a sailor on the Vasa. Director looks powerful but its inner structure is very fragile and it has absolutely no safety features which leads to very unstable applications that break easily. With that not being enough all the structural overhead limits its agility and hides the speed of its underlying engine.
Any comments?