Oculi Mundi - The Eyes of the World

Oculi Mundi

Oculi Mundi is an immersive 3D experience which presents an extraordinary private collection of antique world maps, celestial maps, atlases, books of knowledge and globes from The Sunderland Collection. The collection is showcasing the evolution of knowledge, as well as a striking celebration of human exploration, discovery, and wonder.

Goal of the project:
Our challenge was to create the online presence for this special collection; a platform for exploration and discovery. A space for research and collaboration. A meeting point for a community of cartographers, historians, explorers and artists to share knowledge, to wonder and to create new ideas.

Oculi Mundi wanted to be much more than another online gallery. It should be dynamic and interactive. Inviting and exclusive, yet pioneering and challenging. Like the collection, the space must be of high quality. And like the objects in the collection, it should push the boundaries of what is technically possible. Or, like our product owner Helen Sunderland-Cohen put it: “This is not your mama’s website.”

Result of the project:
During the process, we challenged all conventions. About how users navigate websites and how a menu works. About how to browse and filter a collection. About how objects are displayed on a screen. About what a homepage is and if we really need one. And that is just what is on the screen. We also took frontend technology to a new high to create an immersive digital experience that not only looks stunning, but also works like a charm.

The idea behind the website is that each part is a 3D-like world. To provide an overview of these different components, say: the menu, we created a space with globes through which visitors can scroll. The 'Collection' section is the heart of the platform and contains maps and atlases that float towards you as you scroll. In this overview, visitors can click on the individual items to view them up close. The beautiful atlases with many maps posed a particular challenge: we ultimately implemented the idea of a spatial experience for these books as a floating 3D carousel including a slider to allow visitors to browse in different ways.

We have also applied this spatial experience to other parts, such as the 'References'. Here you can find information about people who made the maps and atlases. To give this part a 3D effect, we decided to let the entries float in space like cards above a 3D globe. As the visitor scrolls, the cards move towards him along that sphere.

Relevancy of the project:
Ancient maps are laden with stories and historical context, and they embody knowledge, technical achievement, and skilled making. Early map-makers used traditional woodblock or copperplate techniques to render images, while colour was produced from precious natural pigments and painstakingly applied by hand. Oculi Mundi brings a new level of visibility to the craft and innovation behind the items in this exceptional collection. It allows digital explorers to view this mesmerising artefact at ultra-high resolution, with the facility to zoom in and see areas of interest in extreme detail.

Oculi Mundi is intended to be a community-based, interactive platform which will grow and develop
over time. In the future we will easily add exhibition spaces, rich stories and binge-worthy series, lectures and online events, special tools for members and scholars, and a shop. The journey has just begun.

Dr Neil Sunderland, founder of The Sunderland Collection, calls it “a small contribution to a better
understanding of human endeavour and the development of thought, a never-ending story.”

With access at the heart of its mission, Oculi Mundi offers multi-layered opportunities for learning, contemplation and discovery that inspires cartography enthusiasts, academics, researchers and non-expert alike, all around the world.

In the future:
The website has a shop, where visitors can purchase a The Sunderland collection image catalogue and some hand printed and coloured reproductions of world maps. 

In the upcoming months the Exhibition part will follow on the website. A place were you as a visitor will find expertly curated online exhibitions. Here you can explore themes around the history of map-making, cosmology, discovery and meet the makers behind these beautiful objects. Based on these exhibitions, new products - matching the theme of the exhibition - will also be added to the shop in collaboration with third parties (artists).