Partnership
Holocaust Documentation and Education Center
The Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) has played a central role in advancing the digital transformation of the , in Dania Beach (FL), through a long-term collaboration focused on 3D digitization, digital storytelling, and public education. As part of its Digital Studies of the Holocaust initiative, IDEx carried out the high-resolution 3D digitization of key artifacts from HDEC鈥檚 collection, creating scholarly-grade digital surrogates designed for both onsite and online engagement. By combining rigorous documentation standards with ethically informed digital interpretation, IDEx enabled HDEC to expand its educational mission beyond traditional exhibition practices, strengthen accessibility for diverse audiences, and preserve emotionally charged material culture for future generations. This collaboration stands as a national model for how advanced digital heritage technologies can be responsibly applied to Holocaust memory, education, and commemoration.
From a methodological standpoint, the collaboration was built on an integrated workflow that combined 3D digitization with the systematic digital curation of archival materials. Alongside high-resolution structured-light 3D scanning and terrestrial digital photogrammetry of key artifacts, IDEx supported the digitization, organization, and contextual integration of archival documents, photographs, and oral-history resources central to HDEC鈥檚 mission. These heterogeneous datasets were curated according to rigorous metadata standards and linked conceptually to the 3D models, allowing objects, documents, and testimonies to function together within a unified digital storytelling ecosystem. This approach ensured that material culture was never isolated from its historical, documentary, and human context, while also enabling scalable reuse across interactive touch tables, virtual exhibits, and future online platforms. By coupling advanced digitization with scholarly digital curation, IDEx established a sustainable, ethically grounded model for preserving, interpreting, and disseminating Holocaust collections for research, education, and public engagement. The digital assets produced were integrated into HDEC鈥檚 newly opened Interactive Learning Center, where they support immersive touch-table experiences organized around major thematic narratives such as antisemitism, resilience, resistance, and justice.
