Describing OTK design and development to Coastal America Partners
(all photos by Nate Chambers who was also a member of the OTK design team)
Yesterday, Alaska region representatives of the 16 Federal agencies who comprise the Coastal America partnership (see http://www.coastalamerica.gov/) met at the Alaska SeaLife Center to review the new Ocean Today Kiosk (OTK). Installed in the early summer, the ASLC OTK is the latest addition to the national OTK network. The OTK network began with a major installation on the floor of the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Institutions’ National Museum of Natural History in 1998 and now comprises some 17 aquaria who are designated by Coastal America as Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers.
The kiosk provides informative, entertaining and up-to-date short videos from researchers, managers and educators under the four main headings of:
• Ocean news
• Ocean Life
• Ocean Science and Technology
• Recent Discoveries
Smithsonian staff work closely with NOAA staff to generate content for the kiosk and content and updates are then ‘pushed’ out to each OTK daily.
OTK Installation features two display screens and is located on the core visitor traffic route at the ASLC
Technology for the OTKs is sponsored by Panasonic. Funding for the OTK was provided by Coastal America partners, with additional installation support provided the National Parks Service Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center. The ASLC OTK has greatly enriched visitor understanding of national ocean issues – we estimate that between 15-20% of our visitors pause to interact with the exhibit. Interaction time varies from 1-20 minutes.
Network members are now exploring how to upload local content to share with other network members – the Alaska Coastal America team yesterday approved a proposal to generate one video in each of the four core menu areas ready to share nationally by May 2011.
We welcome your suggestions – what Alaska content do you believe is most likely to have national interest?
No comments:
Post a Comment