LamasaTech’s Digital Product Manager Michael Wass takes you through all of the exciting interactive technology we showcased at the 2018 Museums & Heritage Show.
The best part about designing and manufacturing your own technology for museum exhibits is the reactions from people who’ve never seen it before.
Last week we went to the Museums and Heritage Show to demonstrate some of the new touch and hardware experiences that we’ve been building over the last few months. We decided to bring along some experimental stuff in an effort to help drive the direction of discussion to a focus on interaction and ‘wow’ moments.
Here’s a summary of the equipment that we took, what it does, what it can be used for and why it’s awesome. We’re sure you’ll be seeing this technology in museum exhibits in no time.
Guida: 42” Android Touch Totem
The Guida is one of the more easily explained items in our demo collection. It’s a standing Android touch screen totem, the sort you might expect to encounter in a visitor waiting area, at reception or in a place where self service is advantageous to customers and loiterers.
What it can be used for
- We rigged up the Guida with visitor management and wayfinding demos for the Museums & Heritage Show, because the totem is perfect for acting as an information point for visitors
- It comes equipped with RFID, so it can also be used for self-service time and shift management
- It runs all Android apps, so anything that you use regularly and want to be able to share or demonstrate to staff or the public can be loaded onto it
Why it’s awesome
The Guida is attractive, space-efficient, cost-effective, very powerful and is one of our favourite Android totems. A Jack of all trades, the quality of the display and the variety of use cases cement it as one of our favourite pieces of hardware.
Roya: Holographic Fan
You’ve probably seen varieties of the holographic fan doing the rounds on social media, but we’ve developed our own, with a tool that can be used to create, amend and edit various forms of media.
You can convert pictures, video files and gifs to holograms that amaze passers-by with 3D, incorporeal manifestations.
What it can be used for
- The Roya is excellent at attracting attention. If you have products that you’re selling, it’s a unique way of enticing the public.
- It’s also great for marketing teams who are wanting to stretch brands further.
Why it’s awesome
There are other holographic fans out there, but they’ve yet to penetrate the public consciousness beyond short clips on social media. We’ve produced a cost effective, power efficient and easily maintained version that can be loaded with content effortlessly. Short of a live Michael Jackson performance, this is the most impressive bit of hologramming you’re likely to get your hands on for quite some time.
Muro: 27” Android Display
The Muro is the product we’ve developed for those who need small-scale digital signage. Loaded with Android, a 1080p display and indoor/outdoor variants, the Muro is perfect for those who need multi-function display technology married with the ease of maintenance and customisability of an Android mobile device.
What it can be used for
- Digital signage
- Large-scale Android apps
- Streaming media
- Interactive display
Why it’s awesome
The Muro is attractive, cost effective, reliable and available for indoor and outdoor premises.
Mensa: 42” Adjustable Android Touch Table
The Mensa is our Touch Table solution, and it’s another full Android offering with functionality and exhibiting content at the forefront of it’s design.
What it can be used for
- Exhibitions: We loaded up the Mensa with our Exhibition software, which has an easy-to-use backend Content Management System. At the event, we had exhibitions that we’d created the week before on the World Cup, The Battle of Cannae and Ancient Mammals.
- Customer info point: The design of the table, with it’s hinged display, is perfect for demonstrating or displaying information about products, people, items and locations.
Why it’s awesome
The Mensa is attractive and wouldn’t look out of place in either a modern or retro styled environment. The hinged display makes it ideal to have either tucked up against a wall or dominating the middle of a room. As with much of the other equipment, it runs a full version of Android, so is ideal for embiggening any essential enterprise apps and is fully compatible with MDM solutions.
Fenestra: 42” Android Transparent Display
The star of the show, the Fenestra really is one of the most mind-blowing bits of tech I’ve managed to get my hands on for a while. It’s a display with a cavity and a transparent effect, essentially turning the hardware into a window with a fully operation Android OS and interface.
For the Museums and Heritage Show, we created an interactive User Interface designed around showing off a T Rex skull that we chipped out of a rockface on a teambuilding event in the Gobi desert.
What it can be used for
- Showing off. If you’re displaying an item in a bog-standard museum case, the Fenestra is the future. Even overlaying a Wikipedia page over an item in the box looks incredible.
- Deeper examination of artefacts: by creating custom apps or web apps you can bring an artefact to life and make it interactive without risking the clumsiness of the public.
- Dropping jaws: The first time you see the Fenestra in action will likely leave a big impression.
Why it’s awesome
It’s fairly self-evident, but there’s not really anything comparable to the Fenestra. It really is a huge leap forward for product demonstrations and for exhibiting artefacts and content. The box runs a full build of Android, so options for tinkering with the functionality are endless, but the real scene-stealer is that transparent display.
At LamasaTech we want to help you engage your patrons with technology in museum exhibits. If’ you’re looking to create immersive, engaging museum exhibitions with AV technology, Get in touch with one of our experts for a consultation.
