AgencyNet's mystical simulation
I came across this interface yesterday, and was blown away. AgencyNet designed their web site as a cutaway view of their office floorplan, complete with tiny furniture, computers, and people, even a receptionist.
Granted, it's derivative of two of the best selling computer games of the past ten years: Myst (click everything to see if it does anything), and The Sims (look, it's tiny people!). Naturally, Myst owes a thank you note to the Hypercard games before it, while The Sims take a bow to The Borrowers, who tip a hat to Gulliver's Travels.
Still, this site implementation in Flash, with perfectly bluescreened video actors in an exquisitely interactive dollhouse, is impressive. For example, if you click on the room second from left (the room with a man at his desk talking to a woman in an arm chair w a TV in the corner), you can click on the lights and turn them on and off while the man talks to you.
Throughout the piece, clocks show the current time, analog devices in the rooms display in sync with the digital presentation, and many objects have quirky/humorous behavior, such as the magnets from the fridge falling off the screen if you try to put them on a non-metal surface. All the little people have their own fidgets, bringing the whole piece alive.
Explore the site at http://www.agencynet.com/.
I don't want to even imagine how much money and people it cost to put this together, but it was most likely worth it. The site makes learning their background engaging while showing off their competency to perfectly integrate every type of digital media their target market might want.