Welcome to 2023 everyone! Before we march ahead into the New Year with hopeful optimism (fingers crossed) we thought this would be a good time to look back on some of our highlights from 2022.
First lets look at some of our favourite projects…
Dan Yr Ogof, National Showcaves for Wales
One of our most notable projects completed this year. We’ve been commissioned numerous times over the years by The National Showcaves – becoming their primary AV consultant in the process and supplying various interpretive hardware and software solutions designed to educate and entertain visitors of all ages.
Here you can see the ‘underwater viewing point’ which utilises a 55″ outdoor touchscreen and bespoke software to view mock underwater CCTV cameras and learn about prehistoric sea creatures.
Bryngarw Country Park – Visitor Centre
Another collaboration with Smith & Jones Design Consultants, saw us fitting out Bryngarw Country Park’s new Visitor Centre.
Here again you’ll see some great use of touchscreens with Lightbox 3 as well as more bespoke video units that utilise RFID to allow objects (in this case wooden graphics slabs) to activate content. There’s also a nice outdoor digital A-Board and other more hands on interactives.
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
We continue to work closely with Smith and Jones Design Consultants, who were tasked with an overhaul of the the reception area for the National Oceanography Centre.
Here you can see numerous touchscreens using our Lightbox 3 software package and video units that introduce visitors to all of the impressive work the National Oceanography Centre does.
ZSL London Zoo – Audio Sign and Outdoor PIR Speaker
For their new Monkey Valley exhibit located in the iconic Snowdon Aviary, ZSL London Zoo wanted to convey audio to entertain and educate visitors without risk of disorienting and upsetting the Colobus Monkeys.
Blackbox-av was commissioned to provide audio signage demonstrating the meaning behind the series of clicks and grunts that makes up ‘Colobus speak’. We chose to utilise piezo buttons and waterproof handsets for greater durability in outdoor weather conditions and to reduce unwanted noise pollution to a minimum.
At one of the entrance/exit vestibules to this exhibit, you’ll also hear a monkey… let off some gas, thanks to a carefully hidden audio unit activated by PIR as visitors walk past. This little surprise (sourced and edited by us) is to reinforce the fact Colobus Monkeys often release gas due to their very specialised digestive system.
The National Archives – Ultra Short Throw Projectors
The National Archives in London made use of our Ultra-Short Projectors as part of their exhibit – The 1920’s: Beyond the Roar.
These saw a variety of uses, from the conventional manner of showing archive footage on loop, to throws up quotes in sections like the recreation of the infamous ‘Club 43’. Another was carefully set up to project archive footage onto three different protest signs at once.
Bentley Priory Museum – Educational Video Units
We supplied 2 bespoke video units for the impressive Bentley Priory Museum’s recreation of a WW2 Filter Room, where information received from radar stations along the coast would be relayed to Operations Rooms across the country, essentially co-ordinating the Royal Air Force’s response during the Battle of Britain.
Single Cup Headphones – Flekkefjord Museum
The latest exhibition at Flekkefjord Museum introduces visitors to a timeline of the town via an impressive visual collection. Looking at everything from period clothing to an entire model boat. When delving into the previous 200 years large portions of content here are presented digitally. You’ll find a selection of video screens as well as our Single Cup Headphones.
Our Single Cup Headphones were selected and installed by OneCo, a frequent collaborator with Vest-Agder Museet as one of the largest AV integrators in the southern part of Norway. The clean design of the exhibition coupled with the use of our single cup headphones and accompanying magnetic hangers makes for a very tidy installation, with the armoured cables and anchor points ensuring longevity and robustness.
Introducing our new Hearing Loop Heavy Duty Handsets!
Our most popular product just got better! In July we produced a new Hearing Loop variant our Heavy Duty Handsets. These impact-resistant and easy to use handheld speakers are embedded with T-Coil technology to allow for hearing aid compatibility and assured compliancy under the UK’s Equality Act.
2022 Saw the release of our new Showreel as well!
Starting in late 2021, we’ve been producing product videos onto our YouTube Channel with a new sleek approach. Now, our newest Showreel shows off what those products have been used in, and we’re really quite proud of it.
We’ve spent over a decade bringing visitor experiences to life. We’ve provided Hardware, Software, Installation & Design Services, even Media Production. Our Showreel encapsulates the very best of our past work, all to give you a sense of what we’ll be providing in the present and future.
Wheelchair Accessible Interactive Interpretation
As suppliers of touchscreens, kiosks, tables and other hardware, as well as designers of bespoke interpretive solutions, we have to deeply consider the access implications of the items we supply. In this article focusing on Wheelchair Accessibility, we cover the rules we follow to ensure everything we supply is accessible with the key being to keep things within reach.
History of the U-Turn Round
With the release this year of the 4th generation U-Turn we thought it would be nice to have a look back at the history of our flagship outdoor audio device… so we put together this timeline!
So that’s about it for 2023, check out our portfolio for a more in-depth look at some of the projects we completed this year, we can’t wait to work on plenty more in 2023. We have some big plans for new products so watch this space!
