Electrosonic upgrades Independence Seaport Museum
Jan 13, 2008 8:21 AM
A Sound Craft Presenter smart podium offers central control of systems for the hearing impaired installed by Electrosonic Systems in Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum.
Electrosonic Systems has performed a system upgrade to the concert hall at Independence Seaport Museum in Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia. The task was to provide a multiuse entertainment system that is simple for the staff to operate and to create a technologically advanced space for the deaf and hearing-challenged.
The Independence Seaport Museum, located on Philadelphia’s waterfront, uses the concert hall for many different types of functions including high school band rehearsals, ballet performances and Congressional hearings. The museum wanted to expand its capabilities to include corporate meetings, movie presentations and a theater for the deaf that could provide captions for both filmed and live presentations, the latter with a transcriber for real-time captioning.
To that end, Electrosonic equipped the concert hall with a retractable screen, digital projector, four speakers and a Sound Craft Presenter multimedia podium, outfitted with a keyboard drawer and gooseneck light. Also available is the latest in hearing-assistance technology, including real-time captioning-compatible presentation capabilities, closed-captioning-enabled projection equipment and an infrared assisted-listening system. Electrosonic has devised custom programming for the venue to allow staff to easily shift from one type of presentation to another.
Sources feeding the projector include a Pioneer DVD-V5000 professional DVD player with Link Electronics caption decoding plus a PC feed from the stage and ESI custom input panel on the equipment rack. The system also includes an input connection in the projection booth for a real-time captioning system provided by another vendor.
An Extron MGP462 multiple window video and graphic processor allows two separate images to be displayed on the projection screen; it also supports real-time captioning. The projection system is based around a Sanyo XF-60A 6500-lumen XGA LCD projector with Sanyo LNS-T02 2.0-2.6 zoom lens. It displays on a Da-Lite 13.5ft by 18ft professional Electrol motorized screen on the stage.
The sound reinforcement system features a Peavey Digitool MC 8 x 8 audio mixer/processor and QSC MD-FP152 full-range loudspeakers located on each side of the stage. Two Bag End 18in subwoofers provide a thump factor, enhancing the hearing-challenged experience with a physical interaction with the sound. A Listen Technology LS-82-SIR IR-based assisted-listening system includes 32 stethoscope headsets. System control is provided via Crestron MC2E with TPS-2000L 5in color touch panel in the equipment rack.
The Independence Seaport Museum, which opened in 1960 as the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, is working with Creative Access, other members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities and the Arts & Business Council’s Business Volunteers for the Arts to develop business and marketing plans to promote the concert hall’s new features.
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