Turkey’s first large interactive learning institution, the Konya Science Centre, has added a range of AV equipment from Electrosonic for its new gallery on human health.
The gallery joins exhibits on basic science, new technology, earth and biosystems, space, and the history and culture of the region. Exhibition work and funding for the science centre was overseen by TUBITAK (Turkish Scientific and Technical Researches Institution).
Maltbie, which creates experiences for museums, visitor centres and specialty projects, hired Electrosonic to provide AV support for the science centre’s latest gallery. Electrosonic built all the racks and configured the equipment in the US and sent it to Maltbie’s headquarters in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which shipped the units to Turkey.
The new gallery offers a wide range of exhibits designed to inform and engage visitors. Three exhibits, ‘Cells of Your Body’, ‘Immune Cell Army’ and ‘Reduce Your Risk’, have game formats played out on Ideum Pro 55 55in touchtables, customised by Maltbie and connected by Electrosonic to network control. “Immune Cell Army” begins with a slideshow about the body’s cells and what they fight, and then offers advice to the player about how to use the cells in his or her arsenal. The touch table launches the game, pitting good cells against harmful cells and keeping score for the player.
‘The Anatomical Family’ features flat cut-outs of a man, woman and child. Three Panasonic short-throw projectors display the skeletal system, nervous system, digestive systems and other internal views onto the body shapes. Visitors use Elo Touch Solutions touchscreen kiosks in front of the exhibit to learn more about the various anatomical systems.
‘Our Basic Needs’ takes visitors through an interactive aging process. A Microsoft Kinect camera for Windows captures visitors when they walk into the field of view triggering a representation of themselves at various stages of life: a crying baby, a child jumping rope, an adult playing soccer, an elderly person walking with a cane. A Panasonic short-throw projector displays the successive images on a wall as the visitor passes through the camera’s field of view.
BrightSign HD media players drive eight exhibits, including ‘Blood Vessel Voyager’. A Panasonic short-throw projector displays animations of red blood cells coursing through our arteries onto a screen with a reflective coating on the back. Tannoy speakers playing a heartbeat audio track enhance the sensation of the blood vessels pulsating with life.
Panasonic rear projection also plays a role in ‘Embryonic Fetal Development’, an exhibit whose hemispheric display surface mimics a womb. Visitors turn a wall-mounted dial to see how images of the embryo grow and change during the gestation process.
Dell PCs supply PC-driven content throughout the gallery. One Dell PC powers the final ‘Healthy Habits Survey’ that visitors are invited to take. It stores information and shows visitors how they stack up against other participants; it also enables visitors to receive health-based emails and literature once they get home.
Blue Telescope created the content for the Human Health gallery.
