R-MC Interactive Sales Tool
I’ve recently been commissioned by ay-pe to develop an interactive video player to be used as a product information and sales tool for their client, R-MC Power Recovery Ltd.
The software needed to work across a wide range of different specification laptops including both Windows and Macs, must be installable and require no internet connection and should also allow for multiple language content.
I developed the application using Adobe Flash, Actionscript 3.0 and delivered it as an AIR application.
Interface Design – ay-pe
HMS Victory – Bones of Oak and Iron
This summer has seen me working almost exclusively on a new exhibition for the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Bones of Oak and Iron tells the continuing story of HMS Victory’s conservation and restoration from the time she was built in 1759, through war and peace, to her current and future state. Working with Erich Kadow | Interpretation & Design and Maytom Associates, we developed and delivered the interactive exhibition from concept to installation in just 3 months.
In addition to working on the overall concept for the exhibition and media (including projected and audio installations), my primary role was the design, development and on-site installation of a suite of touch screen interactives, including:
Conservation Explorer provides a wealth of information about Victory’s construction and on-going restoration and conservation. Supported by modern day and archive photography, video, plans and diagrams, the content is accessible through a fully interactive timeline, a categorised elevation and plan of the ship, six key phases in Victory’s history and also a huge media browser. Displayed in full HD, the interactive showcases the best from the Victory archives.
Shipwright’s Apprentice features two games. The Repair Challenge asks visitors to try their hand at looking after and maintaining Victory, including dealing with an attack of Death watch beetles, leaks and water damage and giving Victory a new paint job. Get it wrong and you’ll be fired from a cannon! This interactive also includes a quiz about Victory, rewarding players with promotion up through the ranks.
The Next 250 Years is a questionnaire that provides visitors with an opportunity to give their views and opinions about Victory, including what should happen to her in the future. Responses are stored for the museum staff to analyse.
3D modelling – Philip Henderson, Rumour 3D
Our Plan 2011 half year update
The past few months have been so busy that I’ve only just found the time to blog about my latest CD-ROM for Aviva, which I developed way back in July.
Using a similar format to previous Aviva interactives, Our Plan 2011 half year update is video-rich and focuses on the plans and priorities for Aviva UK during the second half of 2011, while also highlighting their achievements during the first half of the year.
Working with eko create, the interactive was developed initially for CD-ROM distribution, followed shortly after by an intranet delivery.
The annual update CD-ROM which I developed back in November 2010 has recently won a marketing award for best internal communications strategy.
Friendly Phantoms
After several months in development, the Friendly Phantoms interactive game for touch screen kiosk and the web is at last finished!
Created for Ordsall Hall in Salford, a haunted Tudor manor house over 800 years old, the game pits you against the ghosts of four historical characters, each from a different period. Based on the characters of Lady Margaret, Sir John Radclyffe and children Thomas and Emily, the ghosts are brilliantly illustrated by Chris Jevons and post-produced by ay-pe. In order to discover their stories, you must catch each ghost as many times as you can throughout the Great Hall and the Star Chamber rooms, before the clock runs out of time.
Over several months I spent a number of weeks programming and animating, mindful that the game needed to work on a touch screen kiosk with bells and whistles aplenty, but could then be easily adapted and optimised for use on the web. It required quite a bit of research and testing to get the right balance of visual quality, while still being able to play smooth and fast and also be web-friendly. Developed in Adobe Flash using ActionScript 3.0, the touch screen kiosk version was published as an AIR desktop application and the subsequent web version was delivered as a Flash interactive.
You can play the Friendly Phantoms kiosk version right now, converted for the web in all it’s glory! It’s a 26MB download, so if you haven’t got a super fast internet connection then please be patient, it will be worth the wait. You’ll need the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.
Don’t forget to turn your speakers on… …and enjoy!
Concept and post production – ay-pe
Illustration – Chris Jevons
Audio – Ben McAvoy, Wave Media Productions
Numeracy Dictionary CD-ROM
April has been another busy month, a large part of which has seen me working with Frog CDROM on the Numeracy Dictionary interactive CD-ROM.
My role involved creating almost 200 flash animations to help explain all manner of keystage 2 mathematics topics, aimed at 7-11 year old school children.
SpeciesID
The launch of SpeciesID this month adds yet another interactive for The Deep to my portfolio.
Working with ay-pe, I’ve developed an interactive touch screen flipbook that provides visitors with a novel way to identify and learn about the fish and creatures on display.
Border Disputes Interactive
Working with ay-pe, the New Year has seen its first software development, a touch screen, mini interactive for Wrexham Museums. Border Disputes is a dual language, high definition interactive, that allows visitors to hear firsthand, the stories of a number of local historical characters.
Our Plan 2011
November has been a very busy month; pitches, proposals and several projects on the go. Somehow, I’ve managed to find the time to develop Our Plan 2011, a widescreen interactive CD-ROM for Aviva UK.
This video-rich interactive focuses on the company’s plans and priorities for 2011, and also highlights some of their key achievements during 2010. Working with eko create, I have developed the interactive to be delivered initially on CD-ROM, followed by an intranet distribution.
RAC Pension Point
My latest development is the Pension Point kiosk for the RAC, a touch screen interactive that is being used on numerous RAC kiosks around the United Kingdom.
The software is designed to keep members of staff at the RAC informed and up to date during the pension scheme changes and consultation which are currently taking place within the company. The changes to the pension scheme are presented in the simplest and most straightforward way possible, by using a combination of voice over, with synchronised and animated charts, text and calculations.
Working with eko create, I have developed a kiosk interactive that will be updated over the coming weeks and months, as the consultation progresses.
Istanbul Aquarium
This month saw the completion of two bespoke interactives for Istanbul Akvaryum. Working with ay-pe, I’ve developed two beautiful interactives for this aquarium in Turkey.
Holoshark is a dual screen, high definition and dual language touch screen interactive that allows visitors to peel away the layers of a shark. A touch screen allows rotation and examination of the computer generated shark through each of the layers: senses, skeleton, internal organs, muscles and skin. A second screen displays a video of the computer generated shark layer swimming through the sea.
Global Warming, the second interactive, is also high definition and dual language. This interactive shows how sea levels might change globally or locally around Turkey, and is projected onto a round table. The sea level can be raised and lowered by turning a physical wheel; the language and world view can be changed by pressing physical buttons.
Guide to Life
My latest creation is the interactive guide to Life CD-ROM for Aviva, a half-yearly update for their UK Life business. After developing the interactive to a very short, and very tight deadline for my client eko create, today sees the master disc go for duplication, with a UK wide launch of the CD taking place early in July.
Gigglebies
I’ve just supported Jelly Bridge Productions with their Gigglebies interactive software. In preparation for a marketing campaign, I assisted them in developing downloadable, trial versions of their wonderful Gigglebies interactive CD-ROMs.
The Gigglebies are a group of characters who help children aged three to five improve their spelling, counting, memory, observation, computer skills and hand-eye co-ordination, while having lots of fun.
Follow Tipi and Scoot and the other Gigglebies on a trip to the Adventure Islands or the Fruity Park Theme Park. Go back in time to Medieval Gigglesbury or help the Gigglebies throw a garden party for all their neighbours!
Aviva Showcase launch
This month saw the successful installation and launch of the Aviva Interactive Showcase kiosks around the United Kingdom. I developed this internal communications and promotional tool for Aviva, as a unique way for them to deliver their messages and vision throughout the company.
Experts and Engravings
Today sees Sir David Attenborough open a new £6m visitor centre at Creswell Crags, home to Britain’s only known Ice Age rock art.
I recently completed two touch screen interactives for the centre. The first interactive is Cave Art, a dual screen, touch screen interactive which provides a virtual tour of the caves, and the art and engravings contained within. The second interactive, Talk to the Experts, is a high definition touch screen, which presents video interviews with the archaeologists who discovered and interpreted the art.
Silver and Swans
Last night I attended the official opening of the new Silver and Metals Gallery at The Bowes Museum.
The reception was held in the spacious Picture Gallery, although there wasn’t much room to move as more and more guests arrived to hear a presenter from the Antiques Roadshow speak and open the new Gallery.
It was my first opportunity to see the World famous Silver Swan in person, having seen it so many times on a computer screen. The new gallery went down a storm, with visitors flocking to the Silver Swan touch screen interactives and audio-visual installations.
History meets high definition
Yesterday, the renovated and refurbished Tithe Barn at St Mary’s Priory Church, Abergavenny, was opened by HRH Prince Charles. Believed to be the oldest such building in Wales, it now houses a modern, interactive exhibition area.
I developed three touch screen interactives for the Tithe Barn, which explore 1,000 years of Abergavenny’s history. Tales from Abergavenny is a dual screen, high defintion interactive that interprets stories from Abergavenny in a Jackanory style. Explore the Priory is another dual screen, high defintion interactive, that displays a 3D reconstruction of St Mary’s Priory through five time periods, dating back to the Roman period. Visitors can watch the automated interactive, as it shows the changes the Priory has undergone throughout its history, or they can take control and discover for themselves. I also developed the Tapestry Explorer, which allows the Abergavenny Tapestry to be explored and interpreted up close.
Say cheese
I have just returned from a successful trip to Edinburgh, to install an infrared photographic retail system at The Real Mary King’s Close. Working with associates and contractors, we began work in the early evening, just after the visitor attraction closed to the public. Working through the night, and into the early hours of the morning, we installed and configured a bespoke souvenir photographic system for the 5 star historical attraction, which was ready for a soft launch the following day.
