| Review
- iLumina, from Tyndale |
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THE
WORLD'S FIRST INTERACTIVE BIBLE AND ENCYCLOPEDIA SUITE
iLumina
review by Tom Gilbert
One
of the benefits of living in today's age of increasingly
advanced computer technology is software that can better
illustrate and enhance our learning experiences. Tyndale
Publishers does this impressively with their new product
iLumina.
This CDROM product is divided into Bible, Timeline, Encyclopedia,
Bible Atlas, Media Center, Extras and Help. Each section
is rich in content and well done. The Media Center has
several impressive digital animations that rival those
of top animated releases like Monsters, Inc., and Shrek.
Tyndale recruited talent in the animation industry,
including one of Marvel and DC Comics veteran artists,
Alex Saviuk (a longtime Spiderman artist). Also in the
Media Center are virtual reality tours of Biblical landmarks,
like the temple in Jerusalem. You can do some nifty
things with your mouse to zoom in or out, and rotate
360 degrees for different views and perspectives.
Interactivity is central to the product. From the various parts of
Ilumina one can link and navigate to others, making
it easy to switch from scripture to animations, from
timelines to maps, and so forth. Simply clicking on
the previous category heading will often return you
to the place you were at, such as the scripture verses,
although it doesn't work that way between all applications.
Returning to the timeline always takes you back to the
beginning. However, the History tab records the places
you visit for a quick return, much like an Internet
browser. Plus, there are forward and back buttons in
the applications and the Bible and Encyclopedia areas
have an extensive search box.
The vary nature of the various parts of this extensive digital
suite of information results in some redundancy. You
can't really blame the makers for reusing the various
digital animation sequences in the virtual tours-it
must have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of hours
to create. Still, there is a nice cohesiveness to the
whole project. Having numerous visual features, like
the virtual reality, animations and atlas, helps bring
the Bible alive-an obvious intention of the makers.
The Bible and Encyclopedia areas are well thought out and
in both areas you can get outlines of the major themes
and go deeper, too, into subcategories. I played around
for a while before venturing in to the help area. By
all means, use this feature! In hindsight, I should
have gone there first. It clearly explains how to best
navigate the product to get the most from it.
In my opinion, the best parts of ILumina are in the Bible
section. Navigation with the "go to" sections
really makes verses quickly and easily accessible. Another
nice feature are the sidebars with subcategories of
commentary, life application (New Testament only), devotionals
and insights. This is very helpful in studying the Word.
iLumina is based on the Life Application Bible and utilizes
the New Living Translation. This is the translation
Tyndale publishes, so it's only logical to be the one
used. It's an easy to understand version that is particularly
helpful for anyone new to scripture study. I suppose
it would be nice to have other Bible translations included,
but there is so much here that it's not necessary. The
end result is a greater appreciation for Scripture,
personal edification and a deeper understanding.
If there is a downside to this project, it is that it requires
a large amount of memory to run successfully. Installation
can take anywhere from 20-60 minutes to load the three
CD-ROMs and don't be surprised if your machine occasionally
freezes up when running it. I recommend you check out
your system resources before installing and then limit
other applications running when using ilumina, particularly
if you are running any of the animations.
There is a companion web site at www.ilumina.com
where you can get updates and download new animations
and stay abreast of developments. It's a great place
to preview the product. iLumina is reasonable priced,
around $50, and considering the wealth of information
and the enjoyment and education you can expect it is
well worth the investment.
Buy
iLumina at a discount
from our e-store.
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Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved. |
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