Key Things to Know
- SNA Displays and Electrosonic partnered with other technology companies to build an immersive LED and audiovisual experience at the Montana Heritage Center, located a block from the state capitol in Helena, Montana.
- SNA Displays manufactured and supplied 42 display faces across nine exhibits using a mix of 1.2, 1.9 and 2.5 mm interior LED video technology.
- Electrosonic designed the integrated AV ecosystem, while digital design studio RLMG created interactive media content tailored to each display.
- Key exhibits include the Homeland Gallery entrance on Washington Way, the Mineshaft Experience, the Moving Through Time concave DVLED wall and the Sovereign Nations Tipi.
- The experience combines sound, light and motion that respond to visitors, often telling stories in the original sovereign nations’ languages.
What Is the Montana Heritage Center?
The Montana Heritage Center is a museum in Helena, Montana, that uses LED video technology and other audiovisual elements to tell the state’s history from its earliest inhabitants through modern times. Located a block away from the state’s capitol building, the center creates an interactive environment that blends storytelling, architecture and technology. The result offers visitors a fully immersive journey through Montana’s past and present.
How Did SNA Displays and Electrosonic Collaborate?
SNA Displays and Electrosonic collaborated to deliver a fully immersive journey through Montana’s history, with Electrosonic designing the integrated AV ecosystem and SNA Displays supplying the LED video technology. Electrosonic built an ecosystem in which sound, light and motion respond to visitors, and SNA Displays supplied custom videowalls and slim vertical displays that define key gallery moments. Digital design studio RLMG created dynamic interactive and media content tailored to each display, letting visitors see and hear stories often told in the original sovereign nations’ languages.
“The Montana Heritage Center set out to offer visitors a fully immersive journey through the state’s history by combining storytelling, architecture, and technology,” says Alex Westerh, vice president of global marketing for Electrosonic. “We knew SNA Displays was the right LED partner to help Electrosonic achieve that vision due to their long history of delivering world-class products and installations. The result is a dynamic connection to Montana’s past and present that creates a sense of wonder for countless visitors from around the world.”
What LED Technology Did SNA Displays Supply?
SNA Displays supplied 42 display faces across nine exhibits using a mix of 1.2, 1.9 and 2.5 mm interior LED video technology. The company provided custom videowalls and slim vertical displays that anchor key moments throughout the galleries. Those displays work alongside projection, spatial audio and synchronized lighting to bring each exhibit to life.
What Happens in the Homeland Gallery?
The Homeland Gallery greets guests through Washington Way, a cinematic passage that surrounds visitors with coordinated projection, LED fissures and an LED ceiling display that curves like a flowing river. Named in honor of American industrialist Dennis Washington, the entrance shifts color and sound to express various themes and begins the immersive museum experience. The overhead LED river leads guests into the first gallery, where a large curved overhead display welcomes them and introduces the museum.
What Is the Mineshaft Experience?
The Mineshaft Experience surrounds visitors with LED videowalls, spatial audio and synchronized lighting to recreate life underground. The immersive technology simulates a shaking floor and plunges guests into the reality of Montana’s mining history. Interactive touchscreens throughout the surrounding galleries tell personal stories from the state’s eras of mining, resilience and innovation.
How Do the Moving Through Time and Sovereign Nations Tipi Exhibits Work?
The Moving Through Time and Sovereign Nations Tipi exhibits use synchronized visuals, sound and motion to immerse visitors in Montana’s stories. Moving Through Time is a sweeping concave DVLED wall with visuals that move in sync with the gallery’s immersive soundscape. The Sovereign Nations Tipi uses motion sensors and touchpoints to trigger origin tales and scenes of village life that play in sync with sound and lighting.
“In the museum itself, first you are greeted by the veins in the stone, with embedded LED that allows them to appear to flow like water, lava, etc.,” says Paul England, senior director of design solutions at SNA Displays. “The overhead LED river leads you into the first gallery, with a large curved overhead display welcoming guests and introducing what the museum is all about. There are many wonderful exhibits and a wealth of artifacts and treasures, but for me the highlight is the mineshaft ride. Guests can step into a mine elevator car, pull the rope to start their shift and ride down into the deep well, stopping along the way to view restored archival footage as well as digital recreations of the people, activities and conditions in the mine. All while being told a story of the brave and tough men that worked the seam. Everyone who watches the experience is simply captivated!”
