Press Release
For More Information, Call:
Mick Tinker, Index Information Ltd
+44-(0)256-703426
For Release 12:00 noon GMT
July 16, 1993
The Writing's OFF the Wall at the London Transport Museum
CD32: The Hyper-Museum Project
As part of an innovative 4 million redisplay, The London Transport Museum is
taking the opportunity to introduce state of the art interpretation techniques,
to communicate effectively with their visitors and, in particular, to use to
the full the wealth of imagery and data at their command which cannot be presented
in conventional displays.
At the heart of many of the new displays will be the Commodore CD32. Its high
quality graphics, double-speed CD drive, powerful 32 bit processor and custom
display hardware provide the ideal platform for Audio Visual and Interactive
Displays (AVID's).
When completed up to 109 CD32's will be used to provide Interactive Information,
Video, Animation's, Interactive Sound Effects, Display Control and Background
Sound Effect. All machines will be networked using a professional expansion
system currently being developed by Index Information Ltd, the company producing
all the computer displays.
"The plans to redisplay the London Transport Museum centre on the need
to communicate effectively with a new generation of visitors. We plan to take
this opportunity to introduce new methods of interpreting the collection, using
the latest developments in design, graphics, audio visual and interactive displays,"
said Rob Lansdown, Head of Communications and Display for The London Transport
Museum.
"In a fresh look at the way the Museum tells the 200 year story of London's
urban public transport, we have taken the linear, chronological, sequence of
story panels off the walls and associated them directly with the objects in
the collection. In this non-linear, object oriented approach we will create
'islands' of interest and ensure that the vehicles and other original material
tell the story."
"The visitor becomes free to explore the Museum, its collection and stories
in a non-linear way, letting their own particular interest lead them around
the Museum. Visitors will choose their own priorities and interests, navigating
between the principle story "islands" to follow say, a social history
or a technological theme."
The multi-media world has already experimented with the idea of a Hyper- Museum
in the form of a virtual museum on videodisc, CD-ROM and hard disk.
The intention is to take this concept one step further. We want to take this
Hyper-media and use it to go beyond the database to interact with and interpret
a real museum. Instead of being shown images of the collection as you Hyper-link
around the disc, we will take you to the actual objects!
In the real object based Museum the visitor is free to wander through the displays,
dipping into the electronic Hyper-Museum when they want to. As the Museum's
core displays will also be written in a non-linear style, the electronic sections
will form an integral part of the whole interpretation, adding a further dimension
to the visitor's experience.
The monitoring and control network is an essential element because of the major
use being made of computers through out the museum, it will allow them to be
managed and maintained efficiently and promptly. The network will detect any
machine failure within seconds and notify the central monitoring machine. As
well as the maintenance of the machines operations, volume control (including
silencing of all machines quickly should an emergency occur) software updates
and usage logging can be carried out with ease. The centralisation of all machines
within one room ensures any machine can be replaced in seconds,
"Many of the qualities that will make the CD32 such a successful home
entertainment system also make it the ideal commercial multi-media player,"
said Mick Tinker, Technical Director of Index Information Ltd. "A high
quality and low cost delivery unit combined with a powerful development platform
is allowing us to provide advanced displays at much lower costs than competitive
systems."
"We have had a very positive response from early demonstrations of the
projects, we feel that the concept will attract the attention of Museums and
visitors from around the world. One of the new Underground Train simulators
was shown at an exhibition and ever since the Museum has been receiving regular
requests from companies wishing to hire the display for their own exhibition
stands!"
Index Information Ltd.
Index Information Ltd., is one of the major UK commercial developers of Amiga
and CD32 based custom software and graphics applications for
a wide range of Interactive Multimedia and Broadcast Graphics Displays.
Formed in January 1991 the company is rapidly expanding and currently has 8
staff, augmented by additional experts and consultants as required. Current
and previous customers have included:
- London Transport Museum
- British Telecom (CD-ROM Interface R&D)
- BBC Scotland ("Catchword" Game Show Software)
- Photo-Me International Ltd.
- Amiga Centre Scotland (Harlequin Graphics Card Software)
- Xi Electronics Ltd. (Harlequin+ Graphics Card Software)
- Team 4 (Kasmin Graphics Card Software)
- Tritech Marketing Ltd. (Director-II Graphics Card Software)
Further information can be obtained from Mick Tinker, Technical Director, Index
Information Ltd.
Electronic Mail: index@cix.compulink.co.uk
Contact Number: +44-(0)256-703426
The London Transport Museum
The London Transport Museum opened its doors in 1980, in the former Covent
Garden Flower Market. Since then, the Museum has been at the centre of the renaissance
of Covent Garden as one of London's liveliest quarters.
Since its opening some 2.5M people have admired the buses, trams, underground
cars and other exhibits. Hopefully, they will also have learned something of
the effect that the evolution of public transport systems has had on the shape
of London and the lives of all its citizens.
Apart from the vehicles, the strength of the Museum's collections lies in its
archive of 5,000 posters, more than 200,000 photographs and 2.5 million feet
of film, all relating to the evolution of London's public transport systems.
Further information can be obtained from Gaye Littmoden or Heather Preston,
London Transport Museum.
Contact Number: +44-(0)71-379-6344
The Concept of the Hyper-Museum
A new approach to museum displays
- Object Oriented Interpretation
- 109 Fully Integrated CD32 machines
All Multi-lingual Displays
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Italian
- Japanese
- English
Hyper-Links to guide the visitor around the Museum
- Non-linear paths for the visitor to create and follow
One Complete System for:
- Hyper-media Databases and Guides
- Video Displays
- Games and Simulators
- Interactive and Background Sound Effects Generators
- Display Control & Monitoring
Built on the success of previous Displays
A Development Package for other Museums & Galleries
- A framework to fit Animation, Graphics, Photographs, Text,
Sounds and Stories
CD32 Based Projects
INTERFACE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (Now completed)
An extensive research project to develop the interface standard to be used
throughout the interactive exhibits.
In addition, the project included the
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Last Update: 16/02/2003
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