Kids of all ages got a chance to preview the Newseum’s brand new HP Media Gallery.
The Media Gallery is an immersive, high-touch environment that features innovative technology such as two large 11-foot HP VantagePoint touch walls, as well as the HP Photon Engine solution. The touch walls at the “Story Board” showcase allow visitors to touch bubbles representing significant past and current global events that were first reported or fueled by citizen journalists, and play related videos.
I spoke to the Principal Scientist of HP Nelson Chang, Ph. D about how the VantagePoint touchwalls actually work and he explained that Photon Engine is powered by an HP Z800 Workstation and uses multiple LED projectors to create a scalable super projector. The news stories are captured through RSS feeds and streamed live to the 23-foot screen of the Photon Engine. The result is an absolutely awesome experience.
Lastly there’s the “Choose the News” and “Game Zone” sections of the gallery. In “Choose the News” patrons can publish their own customized news pages by interacting with one of three touch tables composed of LCD interactive displays. The “Game Zone” challenges the visitor to use hand gestures to test their knowledge of social media with the goal to help visitors become better aware of what is fact and what is fiction in news. The HP News Media Gallery is fun as well as informative, and I recommend that all kids or “kids at heart” take a trip to the Newseum and visit this fantastic new exhibit.
For more information on the new exhibit – click on HP MEDIA GALLERY
TRR Museum Story & Photos by Mark Mahoney
