Audio Visual Installation Case Study
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
Feltech have recently completed a comprehensive upgrade of the Solo Gallery at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden. Aimed at 6 – 12 year olds the museum features two fun and fact packed galleries and an interactive story centre.
In November 2011 Feltech were brought in by consultants 7six7 and Outside Studios to install a wide variety of engaging interactive exhibits in the museum. The Solo gallery upgrade focused on enhancing the user experience and updating the integrated technology within the exhibits. The gallery features seven distinct areas, each designed to explore the life and work of Roald Dahl.
The centrepiece of the gallery is Roald Dahl’s writing hut, complete with all its original contents and furnishings. Visitors can see the “little nest” as he called it, exactly as he had set it up with all the extraordinary and fascinating objects he kept at hand for contemplation and inspiration. The hut is enhanced with motion detectors that trigger an audio descriptive stream including commentary from Roald Dahl himself, making it a very personal space.
The interactive displays around the writing hut aim to throw light on to the creative process – how Roald Dahl became a writer, what real life experiences inspired him and the “stories behind the stories”.
Amongst the new exhibits is a World War II Gladiator cockpit to explore, like the one Roald Dahl flew in his RAF days.
This exhibit is enhanced by projected footage designed around the shape of the plane, showing similar aircraft flying in formation in the background. Hidden Bose Acoustimas speakers powered by a Denon amp provide regional audio to enhance the exhibit.
The exhibit is a combination of real graphics and CGI, with two Calibre boxes providing edge blending to complete a seamless picture. Visitors are encouraged to whisper their dreams into the trees, which trigger magical bubbles to appear in the forest. The bubbles reveal random thoughts from Roald Dahls’ stories and notebooks.
The gallery also features an interactive “Ideas Aviary” where visitors help to turn Roald Dahl’s story idea seeds into ripe fruit. A series of interactive programmes and three blended Panasonic WUXGA projectors create a forest scene complete with running water and soaring birds.
“Roald’s Dial” is another complex interactive using a mix of projection and printed graphics, activated by a wall mounted NEC touch screen which allows visitors to activate the projected content. Due to the limited space and acute angle required for projection, Feltech specified a Mitsubishi projector to work in conjunction with a Calibre box to geometrically correct the appearance of the dial on the wall.
The “Sparkometer” is an interactive exhibit designed in the style of a questioning fruit machine. Visitors are able to pull the “one armed bandit” style handle to set a series of random question and answer visuals in motion. The handle also triggers additional enhancements such as gauges that spin either side of the main screen. Using complex AMX technology this “question and answer” exhibit shares Roald Dahl general knowledge information whilst the configuration is designed so that the visitor’s response is never wrong.
The gallery benefits from DDA compliant Ampetronic assisted Listening Induction loops for all the exhibits with spoken word, with care taken to separate each audio signal across the confined space in the Solo gallery.
It was imperative that the Solo gallery upgrade was turned around in a short period of time to limit the inconvenience to the Museum and its visitors. In real terms this meant a number of contractors working simultaneously during the installation process within the limited space available in the gallery. The Feltech team maintained a professional approach throughout and were able to deliver a fully functional installation on time and on budget.
Museum Director Amelia Foster said “We are so pleased to have the writing hut and the brilliant new displays. Solo gallery is now bursting with activities and information aimed to engage adults as well as children. It will expand the potential for our visiting school groups and outreach work and I am confident it will provide a richer experience for all our visitors. We are very grateful to the many people who have helped this project come to fruition”
For further information on the Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden contact Isabelle Reynolds isabelle@roalddahlmuseum.org.
For more information about Feltech’s audio visual services contact one of our experienced technical team on sales@feltech.co.uk.
