Technisches Museum Wien First to Sign Agreement within “Barco Innovation Partner” Program.
The “Technisches Museum Wien” (TMW) (Vienna Museum of Technology ) – housed in a beautiful building just opposite the Schönbrunn palace - shows both technological innovations and the mechanisms of their development. The visitors are provided with an atmosphere that inspires discussion and motivates them to actively take part.
The next area to be created within TMW is called medien.welten” (Information and Communication). This exhibit will tell visitors the story of evolution of media technology from ancient times to present days. With new discoveries every day, TMW wants to give its visitors the chance to participate actively and to offer immersion in virtual worlds, opening up many opportunities for experimentation.On their search for expert partners to reach these goals, TMW discovered the “Barco Innovation Partner “ (BIP) program. This program launched by Barco’s Edutainment and Entertainment product group, fosters innovative technology in Science Museums and Planetariums. Partners in the Barco BIP Program benefit of matching funds. TMW and Barco signed the BIP contract to cooperate together in the medien.welten project with a minimum investment of 30% for innovations and prototypes, and so establish an example of new forms of cooperation between museums and international companies.
“Barco has a wide experience and possesses valuable technical expertise in the field of electronics hardware, software and optics and offers integrated solutions for 3D multi-screen projection”, says Dr Otmar Moritsch, director of the new Medien Welten exhibit. “And image quality and know-how of stereoscopic projection is crucial for full immersion in a virtual reality environment”.
“The whole idea goes back to the major single communication message of medien.welten: the digital convergence of information data. In this process the users not only arrive at the point of convergence cognitively, but also feel emotionally involved and truly empowered as a group: information is not anymore a collection of bits in an invisible layer above us, but a visible flow of words, pictures, sounds and colors in a tangible canvas of light that can be magically manipulated both for aesthetical and for pragmatic ends. The concept offers many visualization and interfacing challenges that I am sure we will be happy to explore and resolve together “concludes Dr Raul Cid, Barco Edutainment Development Manager.
medien.welten will be a permanent exhibition occupying an area of about 2,500 square meters on the second floor of the building of the Technisches Museum Wien. The opening is scheduled for the February 2003.
