Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

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CAMERA
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AM I GA
LASERDISC
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peripherals or goes" Apparently this proves
ideal in a what needs to be a 'child proof'
museum as there are no extra peripherals or
attachments for a child to damage. It also
makes interacting as simple and fuss-free as
• possible.
The Amiga-based InVideo system can also
be found downstairs in the Panasonic Theatre.
Walking in to the theatre you find a huge
saeen in front of you with all manner of weird
colourful things cast on to it from a video
projector. This time its controlled by an A3000
and once again the InVideo system comes into
es own. A camera picks up the image of the
chid and projects it back in full colour - unlike
tre Dreams exhibit which is in one colour. One
mercise involves letters of the alphabet moving
around the screen - the child can reach
out_ touch it, and it will turn into an object
beginning with that letter - B, for example,
turns into a butterfly. Ibis is great for children
with disabilities" explains Hardcastle. 'It gives
them a chance to interact with something eas-
A similar sort of thing can be done with
numbers too, and helps the younger ,age
group with number recognition and learning.
Mother exercise is called AirPaint which is
like a human paintbox and allows the child to
nidi up colours from a palette and draw them
across the screen with their body.
Jim Williamson is the museum's technical
manager and is very pleased with how well
the Amiga system works: "If we were considerrig
using virtual reality again we would defi-
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ID - THE WORLD
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squiabon. v They also designed a game for
Norkelodeon u called Eat-A-Bug which has
woght on all over the States. The idea behind
s
its lai a child to catch one of the flies, bugs or
mosquitoes
e
and eat it without being caught by
t spoderar centipede
hAs
well as museums, amusement centres
we e also benefiting frorn the system which has
Iv Aadvantage
over traditional VR in that it con
te moperated
by all ages, is mbust, hygienic and
lesn't i need someone to supervise - this is
self g illustrated in the Eureka museum where
attendants a prefer to let the children roam
eimugh . at will rather than having to monitor
and supervise their every move,
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"The children have the
opportunity for a 'hands
on' experience. It makes
the learning process so
much easier"
machine and suits the task well."
Not related to the Amiga, but also cleated
by Friedman, is the Music Box. Children can
create tunes with different parts of the body
such as walking across the musical stepping
stones or sitting on each stool which then lets
out a honk from one of the giant horns.
Walking around, you realise just how well
designed Eureka is, Each section is geared to
the National Curriculum and because of the
variety, each age and ability seams to be
catered for.
'WARD WINNING
Eureka are certainly on to a winning forrnula
with their lively approach to learning_ Since it
opened in July 1992, it has attracted over one
million visitors and they hope to have this figure
topping 1.5 million before Easter.
Patronised by HRH The Prince of Wales, the
museum has earned itself 15 top awards
including the 1993 Visitor Attraction of the
Year from the English Tourist Board_ In 1994
they also won the National Heritage/IBM
Museum of the Year award for the most imaginative
use of interactive and multimedia technology.
It seems that this new breed of museum
is certainly in demand and people are
favouring them in place of the dusty museums
of the past where noise was frowned upon
and touching the exhibits was definitely out of
order,
If you want to see Eureka for yourself it can
be found in Halifax, West Yorkshire and is situated
next to the railway station. It is open daily
from 10am until 5pm. Prices range from E4_50
for an adult to E3.50 for children aged 3 to 12.
Contact them on 01422 330069 for more
details.
Communication is
stressed in a ll sections
of Eureka
The sa le - chiktren
must wa lk through
without tr199ertng the
alarm
n
ELIEVER ' D rIN
AMIGA
The Eureka museum in Halifax eis not x the only museum to see the virtues
of an Amiga-based system. The h London i Transport Museum on Covent
Garden is already reaping the bbenefits i using an Amiga and CD32-based
t
system. The CD.32s provide touch screen computers Which display
various information such as the Underground hypermap. But what's particularly
impressive is the 1938 Underground train simulator. The front
window of the train has been replaced with a computer screen with
graphics controlled by the Amiga 4000. Two other simulators of on 1890
and 1992 models are controlled by A2000's.
More recently, Amiga Computing covered how the London War
Museum use a similar touch screen system in their building. Scala's
Infochannel is used to convey information about the exhibits on to
screens around the museum, There is also a Scala touch screen display
used for their Civilian Dead exhibit.
AMIGA COMPUTING
FEBRUARY 1996
The childre n enjoy the
interodhm learaMg aspect
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Par ihram,_
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Soils ar a WI_
f;rinr down
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Pippo Hordstrate demonstrates the
Amiga
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