„The Hare with the Amber Eyes“
An Immersive Visitor Experience at the Jewish Museum in New York

The triggering system from tonwelt – guiding solutions has been employed in a large number of exciting projects. The creative aim of this technology is to transport visitors into an immersive sound space that focuses entirely on the auditory experience of storytelling. After such venues as the V&A in London, the Museo Checco Costa in Imola and the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Jewish Museum in New York has also now adopted this tried and tested technology.

The Jewish Museum in New York is currently presenting “The Hare with the Amber Eyes”, an exhibition that tells the story of the Ephrussi banking family. Based on Edmund de Waal’s 2010 novel of the same name, the exhibition explores both the family’s eventful history and its famous art collection. Beginning with the rise of the Ephrussis in the first half of the nineteenth century, “The Hare with the Amber Eyes” focuses upon the passionate art collector and art historian Charles Ephrussi, before continuing through to the Second World War when the family lost its fortune and collection to Nazi looting. The exhibition can be seen at the Jewish Museum from 19 November 2021 to 15 May 2022.


Working closely with Edmund de Waal and the Jewish Museum in New York, Diller Scofidio + Renfro created an interpretive installation that features artworks and artefacts provided by the family and other cultural institutions. These objects trace the turbulent history of the Ephrussis through a series of locations and periods.

The audio tour for the exhibition was recorded with Edmund de Waal himself, and is based upon his own writings. After advising the exhibition organisers on the audio script’s composition, our creative team helped to produce an audio guide from the author’s work that not only guides visitors through the exhibition but also immerses them within the fascinating world of literary storytelling.

Close collaboration for an immersive visitor experience

Our close collaboration with the Jewish Museum and the exhibition designers Diller Scofidio + Renfro was a particularly fruitful one. Working together, we planned a “hands-free visitor experience” which included the design for the entire AV integration. We also coached the exhibition team to such a high level that the various triggerPoints for our automatic triggering system were able to be installed by the museum’s own staff. The most important goal for all of us was to create a completely immersive visitor experience. We wanted visitors to be able to move around freely in the exhibition space, with the appropriate soundtracks being triggered on their audio guide simply by their physical position in a room. This automatic triggering technology has already been used successfully in a large number of exciting projects where immersive experiences were of the upmost importance. These include highly acclaimed exhibitions at the V&A in London, the Museo Checco Costa in Imola, the New York Historical Society and, most recently, the Museum Folkwang in Essen. Now that the Jewish Museum in New York is also using this technology, it is able to inspire visitors with its own unique immersive experience.