Wars and us – An interactive museum experience powered by NFC
Client
Go-Live
2026
Realisation
Interactive application, UX Design, CMS (Content Management System), NFC cards supply & configuration, Raspberry Pi system integration for data collection
The exhibition Wars and us at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich explores the profound transformations of societies during times of conflict, as well as their effects on political, economic, and social structures.
Within this framework, the exhibition offers an interactive experience dedicated to the notion of Swiss neutrality and its different forms throughout history.
Making a complex topic accessible
How can such a sensitive subject as the impact of wars on Swiss society—from the Middle Ages to today—be addressed without flattening its nuances?
The museum aims to offer a progressive reading of the theme, allowing each visitor to build their own understanding of the subject.
Playful opinion survey through NFC interaction
Visitors begin their journey by receiving an NFC card, which serves as a guiding thread throughout the exhibition. At each station, they answer questions about Swiss neutrality via interactive consoles, scanning their card to record their choices.
We designed and developed an application that enabling the synthesis of responses, and compare them visually with broader trends emerging from all visitor journeys.
At the end of the visit, this application lets visitors explore their response profile and place it in perspective with the different forms of neutrality presented in the exhibition:
· permanent neutrality
· cooperative neutrality
· pacifist neutrality
A personal positioning experience
The system turns the visit into a space for individual reflection, where each visitor can situate their perception of neutrality in relation to others.
For the museum, this approach makes the topic more accessible without oversimplifying it, while introducing a dimension based on real data collected during the visit.
The exhibition started on April 16th 2026 and runs through January 2027. For more information, see Wars and us.
