Amazon Web Services
Leveraging the content of the Digital Library, the White House Historical Association partnered with Amazon Web Services beginning in 2017. Throughout the partnership, the Association and AWS launched new digital resources and initiatives using AWS technology and the Digital Library. The partnership, which ended in 2023, highlighted efforts by the two organizations to bring virtual access to the People’s House.
Gallery
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Along with Digital Divide Data and Creekside Digital, AWS partner companies, the White House Historical Association and AWS digitized approximately 20,000 35mm slide film beginning in early 2017. The 35mm slides documented the rooms and exterior of the White House, select events, and the first family from President Lyndon B. Johnson through President George Bush. Seen here, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, along with guests including Danny Kaye and Sargent Shriver, is photographed at an event announcing the Head Start program in June 1965.
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The White House Experience mobile app, which offers tours of the White House and explores topics related to its history, launched in 2018.
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The Presidential Look-Alike feature, using Amazon Rekognition technology, was also debuted when the app launched. The feature matches a user’s selfie with the president or first lady portrait in the White House Collection they most closely resemble.
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The White House History Guide Chatbot and Alexa skill launched in 2019 as an interactive tool to learn about the history of the White House.
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The White House Historical Association and AWS launched the interactive virtual game Fly Like Ike in 2019. Using AWS technology, users flew a helicopter inspired by the Official 2019 White House Christmas Ornament honoring the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the game, users could fly the helicopter to some of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic landmarks before landing safely on the South Lawn of the White House, much like Marine One does with the president.
Over the course of their partnership, the White House Historical Association and Amazon Web Services (AWS) produced a series of digital resources and initiatives that utilized the Digital Library’s content while helping build the Library’s collection, improving accessibility and encouraging research and discovery. The partnership’s aim was to promote the Association’s educational mission through cutting-edge digital technology.
Slide Digitization
The first project undertaken was the digitization of approximately 20,000 35mm slide film covering the White House from 1962 through the early-1990s. This slide collection originated from the Association’s many publications over the years, beginning with its flagship publication, “The White House: An Historic Guide.” The collection of slides covered major events and day-to-day life in the White House but had been kept in cold storage for more than two decades.
Beginning in March of 2017, the Digital Library team worked with AWS partners Digital Divide Data and Creekside Digital in Glen Arm, Maryland to digitize this massive collection. The processing of this collection is ongoing, but over half of the 20,000 slides are currently available to the public.
The White House Experience App
The White House Experience mobile app launched in June 2018 through support from Cuseum, the digital platform that runs the app, and AWS, who developed additional digital features for the app.
For the first time ever, users could virtually tour the White House and the surrounding President’s Neighborhood with their iOS and Android smartphones. Additionally, the app used Amazon Rekognition technology to support a Presidential Look-Alike selfie-matching feature.
Chatbot and Alexa Skill
In 2019, the Association and AWS launched the free “White House History Guide” Chatbot and Alexa skill. The “White House History Guide” allows users to dialogue and interact with either the Chatbot or Alexa to learn more about White House history, find answers to frequently asked questions, and explore the way different roles of the president utilize spaces within the White House. The Chatbot was available until early 2024, but the Alexa skill is still accessible. To use on any Alexa device, just enable the skill and say, “Start White House History Guide”.
Fly Like Ike
Other projects using AWS technology included Fly Like Ike, launched in 2019. Fly Like Ike celebrated President Eisenhower’s legacy by giving users a chance to pilot the presidential helicopter around Washington, D.C. The interactive experience used Amazon Sumerian and was available for all users until early 2023.
