It’s always great to see technology put to use to preserve culture. One of the best examples of this that you’ll ever see is Samurai Art – The Hosokawa Family Eisei Bunko Collection iPad application, which which shares ancient works of art in digital form on the iPad.
The Japanese version was published a few months ago, but the English and French editions were made available just yesterday in the App Store. Of the 15 items featured in the first edition (new content will be published every three months) the 20-meter illustrated scroll is particularly striking on the iPad. It is displayed at roughly the original height, and to traverse the length of the illustration you simply flick your way through the 20-meter long scroll. Similarly the application also allows you to look at ancient tea bowls by spinning them 360 degrees horizontally and vertically.
The app also includes social features where viewers send Twitter messages about the works with just a click.
Regrettably the application is not free, selling for $7.99 on the app store. But it looks like a great asset to any history class, enabling students to see the works without having to travel to a museum in Japan.
See the video below for a demonstration.
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