BURLINGTON, VERMONT;
DECEMBER 1, 2003: The Chicago
Children's Museum
has selected Ascension
Technology's Flock of Birds®
to provide the critical motion
tracking in its new interactive
exhibit, "Big Back
Yard: Where Imagination Blooms."
Visitors to the
new exhibit scheduled to open
December 6, 2003, will don
giant insect puppets containing
Flock sensors, manipulating
them to simultaneously create
a virtual puppet show onscreen.
For the exhibit, the Flock
sensors were sewn into three
oversized bug puppets-a butterfly,
a bee and a beetle. The puppets
are tethered to a counter
via armored cable that protects
the equipment. Visitors can
wave the puppets around, thereby
controlling a graphic image
of the same insect shown on
a large screen in front of
them. Visitors can capture
photos of their own faces
then superimpose them on the
bugs. They can also fly the
virtual insects to several
computer-generated Chicago
landmarks.
According to Rachel Hellenga,
Associate Vice President of
Production and New Ventures,
"The museum selected Ascension's
Flock of Birds magnetic motion
tracker because it can withstand
a lot of public use, as demonstrated
by similar exhibits at The
Tech Museum of Innovation
in San Jose. It does not need
rigorous calibration of line-of-sight
to cameras, nor does it need
to track white dots which
would interfere with the aesthetics
of the exhibit."
"Big Back Yard: Where Imagination
Blooms" will be a permanent
installation at the museum.
The exhibit encourages children
and their families to exercise
their imagination in a fantasy
environment where bugs are
over a foot long and blades
of grass are taller than people.
For more information about
Chicago Children's Museum
exhibits, visit www.chichildrensmuseum.org.
Ascension Technology
Corporation develops
motion-tracking solutions
for 3D computer graphics applications
in animation, military targeting
systems, simulation, biomechanics
and medical imaging. For more
information about Flock of
Birds and other tracking products,
visit www.ascension-tech.com.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jack Scully (802)
893-6657 or e-mail: jscully@ascension-tech.com
Back
to Top
