Planetarium Exhibit

In 2014, Southwest Research Institute put together a space science display at the new Scobee Learning Center built at San Antonio College. The display, intended to inspire local kids to reach for the stars, includes flight hardware, a poster and movies showing past, present and future missions to capture the imaginations of young minds, and stories about young people brought up in South Texas who are now working on space projects at SwRI as adults.

My task was to design a six-screen self-running multimedia experience to highlight different aspects of the Institute's involvement in space.  I used a single computer system to drive the four main displays which show a sequence of videos from left to right.

A second computer drives a touchscreen monitor which allows children to learn about space.  A third computer drives a monitor that displays a live solar wind chart that is updated every few minutes with data from the ACE satellite.

All equipment including PA speakers and a sub-woofer fit neatly under the display stands requiring no additional server room.  All operations including pause, stop, start and volume controls can be managed remotely via network or WiFi on portable devices.

Pretty cool, huh?

Take a look at the installation video:

 

Stop by the new San Antonio College Planetarium building to see this display in action.