National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

One of the world’s leading oceanographic institutions, the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton is an independent self-governing organisation who through heavy investment in research and technology are dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans and our planet in turn.

Smith & Jones Design Consultants were commissioned by the Centre to overhaul the reception area and create a space that better communicates all of the amazing things the National Oceanography Centre does to a wide audience. We were in turn commissioned by Smith & Jones Design Consultants to provide the hardware and software solutions that would help make this happen. This includes a 75″ Screen activated by a large turnwheel! Such a unique bit of AV was made possible through the use of Reed sensors installed into the wheel podium so that once turned to a certain number, a signal will be sent to an installed VideoClip device.

Three other 43″ touchscreens are also running our flagship museum software. Lightbox 3 is our unique software package that includes a wide range of extremely flexible applications developed primarily with museum and heritage use in mind. Working closely with Smith and Jones Design Consultants who provided the graphical elements, we used Lightbox to create three unique Hotspot interactives which help demonstrate the significance of the organisation’s goals and the impact we have on our oceans in the present. This setup allows visitors to view videos of bizarre sea creatures, a timeline of significant events related to the Centre and a virtual tour of the RRS James Cook, viewable thanks to the ‘Web Browser’ App. You can see these in action below:

These new additions fit wonderfully with the overhaul to the reception area. Visitors are able to learn more about the value of the Ocean and its preservation in a fun and interactive manner.