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The “Cité de l’Energie” - a science and technology-themed centre located in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada - has been recently entirely renovated.

The site is located at Quebec's second highest observation tower where visitors can enjoy numerous interactive exhibitions, thrilling and fascinating multimedia presentations. "Cité de l’Energie" hosts a number of dazzling scientific demonstrations as well.

XYZ Cultural Technology, a canadian-based integrator and AV designer company, installed state-of-the-art technology in the "Cité de l’Energie", including a Medialon Show and Media Control system. The Medialon system is used as the main AV controller of the Science Center. It controls all the audio, video and lighting devices installed in each of the exhibition rooms.

When visitors arrive at the "Cité de l’Energie", they set off on a fantastic journey under the spell of an ageless shaman with "The Spirit of the Earth". This multimedia presentation allows visitors to travel back in time, billions of years ago, from the first spark to the huge fire explosions that rocked the Cosmos. Specific lighting, sound, video and special effects – including rain, wind, fire, scents and fog effects – are entirely controlled and synchronized by Medialon Manager software. During the presentation, visitors can experience the forces unleashed by Nature and witness the miracle of life in its many forms. Inside the room, a moving stage – with a PLC controlled by Medialon - has been set up with over one hundred seats sealed on it. While rotating on the stage, in sync with the video presentation, the audience can more deeply feel and live the presentation. A Medialon control panel, installed in the control booth on the rotating stage, allows the operator to launch the entire show and to check in real time that all the equipment is working fine in order to ensure the visitors’ safety.

The visit follows with "The Ages of Energy", a dynamic permanent exhibition where visitors can learn more about the different types of sources of energy throughout the centuries, the discoveries of oil and electricity, and points out the question of what would be the tomorrow’s energy sources as well.

"Stories from our Lives", an historic exhibition which presents the collective memories and the day-to-day lives of the people of Shawinigan, closes the visit of the "Cité de l’Energie".

"One of the challenge with this project was to install the most reliable control system which allowed to control simultaneously a 20-minute show launched upon request, and carry out autonomous daily tasks in two independent exhibitions halls.", declares Eric Cyr, Project Manager at XYZ Cultural Technology. “This is the reason why we have chosen Medialon as the main controller of the Centre’s exhibition rooms.”, adds Eric Cyr.

One Medialon Manager V5 Lite license controls the Science Center’s AV devices, including:

- 3x 7K Panasonic PTD7700UK video projectors
- 1x 4K Sharp XG-PH50X video projectors
- 1x 3.5K NEC NP1000 video projectors
- 2x 3.5K Panasonic PT-FW300U video projectors
- 3x Dataton Watchout players
- 1x Pioneer professional DVD player
- 1x Fostex 24 channels digital recorder
- A 8.1 audio system including 12x speakers for the rotating stage with 20x ButtKicker under audience seats
- A full lighting system including LED and motorized projectors
- A custom made rain and mist effects system
- 6x 18’’ to 72’’ diameter blowers for heavy wind effects
- A real fire effects system
- 4x different scents effects system which is coordinated with an HVAC system
- 5x interactive games PCs
- 1x MP3 player controlling a third audio language

To offer more flexibility to the Center’s staff, XYZ Cultural Technology has developed three control modes on Medialon Manager:

- "Show" mode: is for the regular daily use of the "Cité de l’Energie" exhibitions and shows.
- "Event" mode: allows the staff to create and use the AV devices of its choice by easily creating and controlling their own lighting, video and/or audio effects for press conferences, training sessions or any other type of representations.
- "Maintenance" mode: allows XYZ Cultural Technology to remotely access and check the status of each of the devices installed in the Science Center via Internet. This mode ensures the Science Center to get an extremely reliable system and a technical assistance available anytime.

"We developed a user-friendly interface so the "Cité de l’Energie" AV control system could be used by any member of the staff, even non-technicians.", says Eric Cyr. "However, we have secured the access to the core of the Medialon programming interface so no one can change the main settings", concludes Eric Cyr.

The "Cité de l’Energie" welcomes thousands of visitors every year that makes it one of the most visited Science Center of Quebec.

ABOUT MEDIALON

Medialon designs user friendly yet powerful, IT based audiovisual control solutions, for simple to mission critical applications such as Museum Media Control, Theme Park Wide and Attraction Control, Live Entertainment Show Control and Corporate Showrooms to name just a few.

Our products range includes Show & Media Control Software, Embedded Controllers, Digital Audio Servers, Scheduling Software, and Redundant Control Servers.

With offices in the USA and Europe and international distributors, Medialon solutions are available worldwide.