MULTIMEDIA AND AV
“There are some
very impressive LED displays which are
extremely detailed and high quality, but come with a price tag“
made with directional fl at panel loudspeak- ers, which designers would much prefer. The next step is to ensure they deliver higher quality audio, with a tightly defi ned beam. Some manufacturers are concen- trating on this for use in museums.
LIGHTING AND LED It seems that everywhere you look these days, the light emitting diode, LED, is making a huge impact, especially in light- ing. With LED-based lighting we have, in theory, improved operational costs and effi ciency. But, along with that, the LED has bought in a dash of colour that wasn’t so easily achievable with old tungsten and halide lighting units. In some cases, excessive design is possible with too much use of colour, but let’s look at the use of LED in displays. High resolution LED
(Below) A new LED low resolution panel from Light Emissions, which is just being introduced to the market
and OLED video panels are still relatively expensive, but can give some excellent results for viewing images in high ambient lighting conditions – as long as you’re not too close! That said, there are some very impressive LED displays out there in cor- porate environments, which are extremely detailed and high quality, and can be viewed close up, but come with a price tag. One spin off from LED development is
the low resolution LED panel, where pix- els are widely spaced and placed behind a diffuser panel. First seen in the BMW museum in Munich, as a backdrop to the whole exhibition space, development con- tinues on lower cost panels and creative solutions. While this technology isn’t suita- ble for highly complex visual images, it will be used extensively to create atmosphere
(Above) The BMW Museum in Munich features an LED panel as a backdrop to the exhibition space
and effects and to cover extensive surfaces with programmable backgrounds.
MOBILE DEVICES The other area where technology is moving at a fast pace and starting to impact muse- ums in a large way, is the mobile phone or smartphone, media players and tablets. We watch with great interest and are
actively using devices from mobiles to handheld media players in projects and have some success. They offer the abil- ity to tell stories in different languages, explore subjects at different levels, super- impose the past on the present with augmented reality and even more. What we need though is great care in applying mobile applications, as they can detract from the main shows and objects and work against us, as much as add value. So, back to the movie analogy yet again – when you watch a good fi lm and get involved emotionally and react to the story as it develops, you don’t think about the amazing technological changes taking place in the digital cinema business – you just enjoy the fi lm. If the theatre is poor, badly designed and has a poor focused image or bad sound, you notice. Applying the same principles in museum
exhibition design allows visitors to focus on the story, but a few technology advances will just make the design sweeter. ●
Kevin Murphy is development director at Event Communications, designers of museums, science centres and attractions
52 Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital AM 2 2011 ©cybertrek 2011
©LIGHT EMISSIONS
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