>We are trying to replace an audio messaging unit that we have at the >Museum. It is cube shaped with a flat button on top of the cube and >it allows us to record a 2-3 minute message that can be replayed by >the visitor when they touch the button. Jamie, I'm going for the long-winded, but hopefully pleasantly detailed answer in this. I'm also happy to share any of our technical designs or developed software if it helps out. I'm also going to describe some alternate interfaces which may be more appealing than a traditional button. We've done a variety of installations like this here at the museum. Like others, almost all of our experiences run on mac minis -- they're incredibly capable at delivering audio/video, can accept inputs from a variety of user interfaces, and can always be repurposed into a desktop machine whenever needed. I'd never run anything off a dvd player again. It sounds like the important thing here is that the user has some control over selecting which video is being watched rather than just playing constantly looping video that cycles through the individual pieces over time. (That's a statement that's worth revisiting -- believe me, I love user choice, but if the overall length isn't very long, and each individual video is relatively short, you may not be gaining all that much by creating a user driven interface) We've done it two different ways here, one using a tangible object interface, the other using RFID. You could just as easily use a button, but we've tried to push the user experience a bit further. The first was using a series of magnetic sensors embedded in a table. The top of the table has a printed graphic showing the user the array of video choices and they slide around a metal 'X' (with an embedded rare earth magnet) to trigger the individual sensors. We have 25 videos -- 5 different artists being interviewed about 5 different topics -- and the interface is easily described, 'X' marks the spot. Each of magnetic sensors have a USB interface and are individually wired up under the table. They all run to a few USB hubs and one cable runs back to the mini which then just runs a long VGA cable to a projector mounted above to give a fairly large image. There's a video of the experience on youtube: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJOWTQZ61Ck> The other way we're doing it is through RFID. For an exhibition in a few months, we're capturing time-lapse photography - we'll have 7 or 8 videos as part of a large projection. Mounted next to the projection will be a short picture rail with an angled back as part of the wall mounting. Next to that will be a set of large chunky postcards (think 5" x 7" ish) each with an embedded RFID tag which, when placed on the short picture rail, trigger the RFID sensor in the angled back. We're only trying to detect a single postcard at a time (we've done another exhibit where we detect multiple items at the same time) so it's a pretty straightforward exercise. The RFID sensor has a single usb interface which in turn runs back to a mini and outputs to a projector. In this example, we're using the RFID sensor and tags from Phidgets - <http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=14>. Cost here is fairly low, ignoring the computer and projector, the sensor is $65 and the tags are $2-$3 individually, lower in bulk. The multi-rfid rig I alluded to above was in creating a soundscape. Users would add multiple instruments to a platform and to turn on|off part of an audio track to a musical ensemble. It's abstractly the same idea as above but with video rather than audio. There's a youtube for that bit at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbItb6sxxT8>. In the same light, if you really do like buttons, we'd simply modify the inputs above to our core software to make use of an alternate phidget control, available for $11 - <http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=4>. The compelling part of having developed our own software (well, we heavily leverage the built-in capabilities of OS X and quicktime, to be fair ;) is that we have a fair amount of control of different things -- we can loop video (and variations, like randomize these 20 vids, but don't have one repeat for at least x times), we can trigger the video (buttons, rfid, motion sensing, etc), and, best yet, if anything acts weird, we can remotely access the machines from around the world and reset everything to get it working again. -bw. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Bruce Wyman, Director of Technology Denver Art Museum / 100 W 14th Ave. Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204 office: 720.913.0159 / fax: 720.913.0002 <[log in to unmask]> ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).