Mad Systems Inc. recently demonstrated their latest offerings for museums, theme parks, and visitor centers during a recent webinar entitled “Touchless Technology,” which was the latest installment of their AV++ webinar series. [related]
The technology innovators revealed three options for contact-less options with touchscreen-type applications. These non-contact solutions “are designed to allow clients to include safe interactive exhibits after the COVID-19 peak,” according to the Mad Systems announcement.
“Ultimately, we have at least four solutions to deal with touchscreen exhibits,” said Mad Systems business development manager Brandy Alvarado in the company announcement.
“For some people, touching is still acceptable, so for those visitors we can use touchscreens as they stand. In cases where IR bezels are used, we can move those further away from the screen, and existing touchscreens can be upgraded for non-touch use by adding an IR bezel.
“That touch overlay is moved away from the monitor or monitors, for a touchless option. Interactive content designers would need to account for an adjusted parallax and make sure any ‘buttons’ are big enough to accommodate this change to the monitor,” said Alvarado.
“Another very affordable development is our Facial Tracking system built into our QuickSilver touchless interactive media servers. Patrons stand in front of the touchscreen, look at the screen, and their facial movement is used to guide the cursor,” she said.
Users can activate a function by looking at the button for a second or so, said Alvarado.
“We can also provide an alternate way for users to interact with a touchscreen by adding one of our sensors,” she says. “Graphics could be included on or off-screen to indicate possible selections for users to activate content.
“All users would need to do is break the plane of the sensor, and the selection is made. Sensors provide an additional touchless method for controlling an interactive,” said Alvarado.
Lastly, with the help of QR codes, Mad Systems’ QuickSilver system can allow for BYOD bring-your own device) capabilities.
“QuickSilver is designed with all kinds of user interfaces; it was easy for us to add a BYOD type of interface,” said Alvarado. “Activate the camera on your phone or tablet, scan the QR code mounted with the interactive or show on the screen and the controls for the interactive will come up on your device.
“With all of these options, there’s clearly no reason for visitors to be fearful of your exhibits,” she said.
More About Touchless Technology
During the live demo portion of the Touchless Technology webinar, the Mad Systems team takes you through the Mad Lab to showcase these latest developments.
“We’ve introduced several compelling alternatives to consider as a solution for designing a healthier and more sanitary experience for patrons,” says Mad Systems founder Maris Ensing.
“As we now know, the COVID virus can stay on surfaces for a very long time. We’ve taken a very serious look at this and designed solutions to future-proof venues and make them safer,” he said.
“We want people to go back to a life that is closer to ’normal’ and that means that we have to make some changes. When it comes to theme parks, museums and visitor centers, and even office settings and trade shows, we need to create safe environments where people can be entertained and educated without ongoing concerns about catching this virus.
“We have to do something to get our lives back to a better kind of normal,” said Ensing.
