” I did n’t understand I was that great lookin'”, quipped 98- yr- old , Navy , veteran , Tolly Fletcher, gazing at a total- sized digital version of himself that’s part of a new higher- tech attraction called” Voices from the Front” at , The National World War II Museum.
Fletcher is one of the 18 past seamen, soldiers, soldiers,  , Marines , and residents who sat for long video discussions on their encounters in the world war that ended almost 80 years ago.
The interactive exhibit, which allows gallery visitors to interact with actual vets, or at least their digital duos, serves as the raw material for those interviews.
Here’s how it works. Choose one of the servicemen, servicewomen, or other respondents from a list on a touch-screen screen that you are sitting at. The man appears on a big online screen, similar to a fairy appearing from a lamp. Using an embedded microphone, you then ask the apparition a question, such as” How did you get the Purple Heart”? or” What was your position in the Army?”
Key terms in the examination are identified by a voice recognition system. Therefore artificial intelligence matches the words to the correct interview section. The picture avatar quietly responds as though it were a real, flesh-and-blood person if everything goes as planned.
Fletcher grinned as he watched his film twofold appear on screen during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the show on Wednesday.” It’s kind of odd talking to myself. In the course of his registered meeting, Fletcher discussed the Allied war of , North Africa, the massive D- Day Invasion, and the kitty- and- rat battle against Hitler’s U- boats in the North Atlantic.
Incredible moments
When he witnessed those incredible historical moments, he was just a teenager. And despite the decades, he’s still got a little bad- boy bravado in him. Asked to reveal the secret to living almost a whole century, the , Walker Louisiana , resident first admitted that he simply comes from a long- lived family, with siblings who’ve survived for as long as he has and longer. But, he confided, the real key to longevity is” chasing wild women”.
At this writing, the” Voices from the Front” interactive display is still a little hit- and- miss. The veteran veterans of the video do n’t always seem to understand the question being posed. ” I do n’t have an answer to that question”, is a common response. But, as , Peter Crean, the , WWII Museum ‘s , vice president of education, explained, the AI system is still “learning”. As it receives more inquiries, it will be able to refine and respond more quickly.
Fletcher gets it. Despite his age, he’s not out of touch with technology. He claimed to have a smart TV that “knows what I like” He believes that eventually the interactive” Voices from the Front” exhibit will also be aware of its requirements.
Crean remarked that the best aspect of the interactive exhibit is that it is entirely authentic. Everything is based on the memories of the veterans themselves. There’s “nothing adulterated about it”, he said.
There was a time when visitors to the , WWII Museum , could count on actual veterans who volunteered to greet visitors and answer questions, Crean said. However, the calendar keeps turning, and there are only getting a select few WWII veterans left.
The appropriate technology
” the right technology at the right time” is what makes the living warriors so appealing, Crean said. It ensures that visitors will hear vets speak even after they’re gone, maybe forever. Imagine, Crean said, if you could talk to someone who fought at Gettysburg.
In the midst of the hubbub of Wednesday’s reception,  , George Hardy , shook hands and posed for pictures. With the renowned Tuskegee Airmen squadron, Hardy was a fighter pilot. He claimed that before he had ever driven a car, he flew powerful Warhawk and Thunderbolt fighter planes at the time.
The high tech of that time, he said, was radar, which made it possible to spot German planes before they made it to their targets.
Like Fletcher, Hardy admired the video screen where his persona appeared to be lingering in the shadows of a question. Hardy expressed his satisfaction with how unsettling the avatars are at all times. ” It makes it more realistic”, he said. ” It’s not like some dummy up there just vocalizing”.
Plus, he said, the answers that his other self uttered were “longer than you’d think, not just yes and no”.
Relics and mementos
The” Voices from the Front” kiosk stands in the center of a new , National WWII Museum , section called the , Malcolm S. Forbes Rare and Iconic Artifacts Gallery, named for the publisher who served in the war.
The walls are lined with striking displays of remnants of long-ago battles and mementos from the military side of the war, including everything from a one-of-a-kind wedding gown made of nylon parachute cloth to the pilot’s jacket, which dropped one of the atomic bombs on , Japan, bringing the war to a close.
The time since the war that so profoundly altered the world has been a result of the combination of the cool, futuristic AI experience and the unmistakably traditional collection of antique artifacts.  , The Iconic Artifacts Gallery , may be relatively small, but it could be a museum in itself.
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( c ) 2024 The Advocate
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
