Pioneer's DVD Players Give Breath Of Life To The National Library Of Medicine Asthma Exhibit

Interactive Touch Screen Kiosks Equipped with Pioneer's DVD-V7400 Industrial DVD-Video Players Provide Virtual Tour of Asthma Exhibit

The prospect of sending a huge exhibition - complete with artifacts, rare books, explanatory panels, and video elements on a national tour is a daunting one, logistically and financially. If these complex contents could be captured on a DVD-Video and sent to libraries, schools, doctors' offices and other places where interested parties could take a "virtual tour" of the exhibit, how much better would that be? The National Library of Medicine discovered the answer to this question. Through interactive touch screen kiosks equipped with Pioneer?s industrial DVD-V7400 DVD-Video players, the National Library of Medicine provides a "virtual tour" of its "Breath of Life" exhibit. The contents and information of the exhibit are captured on a customized DVD-Video disc, giving kiosk visitors everywhere the opportunity to learn about asthma by reaching out and "touching" healing herbs, medicines and other items without ever entering the actual exhibition.

The National Library of Medicine, MetaMedia Training International, Inc. and MadisonFilm, Inc., collectively created a custom DVD-Video disc that contains more than two hours of full-screen, full-motion video, graphics, audio, advanced three-dimensional graphics environments and animations in a highly interactive program, as well as open captioning for the hearing-impaired. The disc provides a virtual environment in which users can explore and examine information related to the history of asthma, the experiences of people with asthma, and contemporary efforts to understand and manage the disease.

The Virtual Tour DVD at the National Library of Medicine, located on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, contains three Pioneer industrial DVD-Video players, delivering patrons into the interactive "Breath of Life" exhibition. Providing visitors with a virtual experience, the exhibit is equipped with three DVD-Video players, two 42-inch plasma display panels and two 15-inch monitors. When not at the library, the custom-built mobile booth, designed and fabricated by Sonalysts Studios in Waterford, CT travels to conferences and community centers throughout the country, providing people of every age the opportunity to learn more about asthma.

"We wanted to provide as many people as possible the opportunity to interact with the Breath of Life exhibit, including many who were unable to come to the National Library while the exhibit was on display," said Dr. Donald A. B. Lindberg, director of National Library of Medicine. "We've had very favorable reactions to our 'virtual' version of Breath of Life. Touch screen kiosks using Pioneer's DVD-Video players were the perfect choice because they enabled us to show high quality images and produce creative content, providing an interactive experience for our users."

Pioneer's industrial DVD-Video players enable the National Library of Medicine to create customized touch screen kiosks. The ability to make individual selections on the screen menu and navigate through the virtual exhibit to "examine" objects and resources was important, so the design of the kiosks was kept simple with easy-to-use interfaces that provide an interactive exhibit experience. Utilizing the seamless search capability of Pioneer's DVD-V7400, visitors to the library and traveling exhibition can make individual choices from the menu options available and be taken quickly and directly to the corresponding video segments.

"The seamless frame search function is a perfect compliment for touch screen applications, providing visitors with instantaneous, seamless access to the menu path they choose," said Linda Toleno, vice president of sales and marketing for Pioneer's Industrial Video Division. "The DVD-V7400 is easily connected to touch screen monitors, providing a reliable and cost effective interactive kiosk display for use in facilities such as the National Library of Medicine."

Operating throughout the day, Pioneer's DVD-Video players provide the National Library of Medicine with sharp, crisp, life-like images to present a virtual journey through the Breath of Life exhibit. The industrial design of the DVD-Video player makes it ideal for enduring the rigors of daily use in high traffic environments such as exhibits, libraries and other public venues.

"Pioneer designed the DVD-V7400 industrial DVD-Video player with functionality, durability and versatility in mind," said Toleno. "Locations such as the National Library of Medicine that utilize kiosks to display visual information in an interactive manner can take advantage of the high quality images and reliability that Pioneer's DVD players offer to enhance the overall experience of guests. With easy-to-use and flexible options, Pioneer's players are low maintenance, making them perfect for busy environments."

Pioneer's lightweight, compact, feature rich and very affordable industrial DVD-Video players provide the National Library of Medicine with mobility and accessibility when they travel with the kiosks to medical conferences and other locations across the country. The compact, stackable design of the players allows for easy transportation with the custom booth created for the National Library of Medicine.

The Industrial Video division of Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., is the leader and technical innovator in optical disc technology for professional DVD-Video applications in business, training and education markets. Pioneer New Media Technologies, Inc. is a subsidiary of Pioneer Electronic Corporation.

For more information on Pioneer's Industrial DVD-Video players and other industrial products from Pioneer, visit www.pioneerelectronics.com or call (310) 952-2111.