Barco and Ecsite team up to foster technological innovation in science museums and planetariums
The European Collaborative for Science, Industry and Technology Exhibition association (ECSITE), engaged in developing collaboration between Science centers and the industry, has signed an agreement with Barco to create “BETTI”. This “Barco/Ecsite Team for Technological Innovation” will build upon Barco’s expertise in multi-channel, large-screen projection and virtual reality to develop new insights in the use of advanced technology in science centers and museums.
“Through the BETTI program, Barco strengthens its commitment to set new trends for the Science Center community, by using the latest state-of-the-art technologies that shift the focus from mere showing to profound immersing and creating interaction with the visitor,” states Eric Braux, product group manager Edutainment & Entertainment.Barco highlighted this statement at the Ecsite Annual Meeting 2003 held in the Deutsches Museum Munich, from 27-29 November, by demonstrating innovative virtual environments for challenging interaction and cooperation between small audiences. Technology partners including Imagination (Austria), Virtools (France) Alterface (Belgium) and Sky-Skan, Inc (USA), provided the image generation and content development for a variety of applications. The applications presented at the conferences ranged from entry level and large multi-channel stereoscopic virtual environments to full dome planetarium projection.
Barco’s entry-level stereoscopic projection package, Gemini, enables science centers to start using the power of virtual reality. Using the Virtools application, users could walk around in a virtual museum, hold any of the statues, and take a close look at the artwork. The Barco Gemini also ran a presentation of natural interaction settings, powered by Alterface.
Barco’s Magic Wall is a multi-channel immersive environment powered by three-chip Barco Galaxy stereo DLP™ projectors. Using the Barco Magic-Y stick, visitors were able to select targets and multimedia objects in Imagination’s global data network. This resource offers worldwide access to stored data and opens multitude of communication channels.
At the Deutsches Museum planetarium, Barco demonstrated that its I-Dome DLP™ full-dome projection solution could generate new interest and raise the appeal of planetariums. The Barco I-Dome DLP™ delivers the brightness to immerse the audience so they experience dazzling shows and provides the contrast needed to project brilliant stars in a fully black sky. This combination of entertainment and education successfully drew crowds to the planetarium while fully supporting its educational mission. Sky-Skan developed the program shown at the planetarium and were also in charge of the image generation.
Placed at the perimeter of the darkened dome, six Barco SIM4 single-chip DLP™ projectors produced overlapping images from the zenith and from horizontal channels, allowing visitors the ability to evaluate image and blending quality. Barco’s proprietary optical blend resulted in black-level overlaps equal to that of separate images, reaching a quality level close to the soft-edge overlap achieved by CRT projectors. Although the multi-channel setup at the Deutsches museum was improvised and put together in a short time, it made a positive, strong impression with the audience members; many of who were industry professionals.
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, is active in three key areas of imaging technology. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco has a network of subsidiaries, distributors and agents in almost 100 countries. Barco is quoted on Brussels/Euronext and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company.
