A series of stimulating new exhibits and interactive displays, designed to showcase a substantial archive of motoring memorabilia to the general public, have been created and installed by DJ Willrich Ltd (DJW), a company specialising in the entertainment and leisure sector, at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon in the UK.
New Forest, Hampshire based DJW, one of the UK’s top Audio Visual and Multimedia specialist companies, was included in the team that was called upon by the Warwickshire museum after the charity that runs it won a Heritage Lottery Award. Funds were allocated to the Heritage Motor Centre in order to cover the cost of the museum’s ‘Road Ahead’ redevelopment project which included the updating of many of its exhibits.
Visitors, of which there are many thousands to the museum each year, will be able to enjoy several highlights of the new exhibitions installed by DJW, including three interactive features; 'Top Trumps' style interactive game covering British cars of the 1970's, 'How an Engine Works’ and an interactive touch table, which showing the lifestyles and earnings of car factory workers throughout the last 100 years or so.
The interactive ‘Cars We Love to Hate’ is based on the ‘Top Trumps’ card game and uses a large format screen and interactive buttons to allow one or two players to compare several aspects of different cars such as engine sizes, top speeds and numbers of cars manufactured. The cars are all from the 1970s and are models visitors will probably know and love from TV shows such as The Professionals, but which now appear rather old fashioned and perhaps a little un-stylish.
Also especially created for the museum by DJW is an interactive called ‘How an Engine Works’, designed using complicated 3D computer graphics to demonstrate how an internal combustion engine works. It’s easy for visitors to use and shows cutaways of a four stroke engine. ‘It was designed in such a way that it appeals to, and can be understood by, a wide age range’ said David Gibbons of DJW’s multimedia department.
The Heritage Motor Centre charitable trust, which moved to its current purpose-built premises in 1991 and occupies a 65 acre site on the old RAF airfield at Gaydon, houses an important collection of historic motor vehicles, including Austin, Morris, Rover, Land Rover, Triumph and MG, and one of the finest archives of motor-industry related material in Europe covering a span of nearly100 years, all of which needed to be taken into consideration by DJW in the design and implementation of the Audio Visual in the exhibits.
DJW, however, are used to supplying services to the niche market of museums and attractions within the leisure industry in the UK and across the world and the company’s core philosophy ‘taking technology further’ was put to good use on this exciting project.
For further information please contact :
Lynn Willrich
T: 00 44 1590 612603
E: lwillrich@djwillrich.co.uk
Images:at top reproduced with kind permission of The Heritage Motor Centre.