case study
motor car and its driver , the evolution of the European automotive industry , or educating children . The answer was to use interactive AV technology to create a multi-layered approach , allowing lots of different types and levels of information to be relayed to visitors , whether children , casual adult visitors or car enthusiasts . The museum selected to work with local firm SOLAVI , to provide the audio-visual elements including interactive and sound .
Ints Berzins , founder of SOLAVI explained : “ Museums have particular needs : it ' s essential to create an engaging visitor experience and these days , that means being more interactive and innovative . It ’ s no longer enough to just give people a button to press . They have high expectations , plus as floor space is always limited , museums have to find new ways to exhibit information so audiovisual has become a vital and strategic element of the visitor experience .”
Berzins continued : “ Multi-touch technology was a logical recommendation for us to make to the museum , particularly when thinking about children , who are already used to touch technology through their phones and other devices . Touch is an intuitive way to communicate , and multi-touch takes that experience one step further enabling more information to be accessed , or for more than one person to interact with the display at the same time .”
Exciting engagement with visitors In common with any visitor-facing technology , it was imperative that the multi-touch systems were able to cope with large volumes of unsupervised use . The museum chose 3M technology for several reasons : The displays are extremely robust , so they can cope with visitors leaning on them , and provide palm rejection – a feature which means that if someone is accidentally leaning on the display , the screen knows not to react . 3M displays also offer plenty of touch points and the bezel-free design means that the AV experience goes right to the very edge of the screen . Not to mention 3M ’ s reputation for product quality .
What ’ s on show The museum is divided into different areas , including : the history of the car , cars from the 1920s , 30s and 40s , the Kremlin collection , other Soviet cars , the Latvian automotive industry , cult cars , motor sports , trucks and other specialpurpose vehicles . Multi-touch systems are installed in each of these areas , to help tell each story and to elevate the visitor experience beyond just fact-giving to something more interactive .
Information accessible via the multitouch systems is diverse , including images , text and videos , with interactivity built-in wherever possible . For instance , panoramic 360 ° views make it easy to zoom and move around the interior of a vehicle , while another feature lets the user change the colour of a car , rotate it or alter the background .
Each systems incorporates a 32in 3M Multi-Touch Display , linked to hidden computer processors which communicate back to an overall media server . The applications and user interfaces on the multi-touch systems were specially created for the museum . The multitouch systems are housed in table-style furniture , designed to support a robust , reliable and problem-free experience , regardless of high visitor volumes .
Project success Installation of all the AV started in September 2015 , and was ready in time for the museum ’ s re-opening in July 2016 . This was ready for the 26,000 visitors who streamed through the doors in the first month alone .
Ints Berzins said , “ The museum ’ s directors have told us they are very happy with the outcome of the project .” Adding , “ The multi-touch systems are already receiving a lot of use and have performed extremely well , able to cope with high volumes of users seven days a week . They ’ re particularly popular with children visiting the museum .”
Aija Bauere Concluded : “ The 3M Multi-Touch Displays have exceeded our expectations . At first , we weren ’ t sure that people would use the displays as the main source of information , but we have been proved wrong . It ’ s been particularly important for our museum , where the main audience is families ; we ’ ve noticed that children use the displays intuitively . By choosing multi touch displays , we have made our content more accessible and fulfilled our mission of teaching and sharing knowledge .” n
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