Medialon Manager is expanding its presence in Australia with two major projects. In the first, the system will play a prominent role at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra where it will be installed in a number of galleries to control the AV systems. The Australian War Memorial attracts close to 1 million visitors annually and is the most-visited national cultural institution in the country.
The initial phase has Medialon replacing Dataton Trax systems in the Second World War 1939-1945 Gallery where 34 Pioneer DVD players, eight projectors, DMX lighting control, a Dynolite lighting system, and interactive displays are under its control. The gallery depicts Australia’s part in the war in Europe and the war against Japan detailing the achievements and sacrifices of people at war.
“Medialon was selected for its flexibility and the ability to do remote administration and control across networks,” says Dean Stevenson of Interactive Control Pty, the systems integrator. “I can administer the system from Sydney, 200 miles away, going into the system and doing updates remotely. Also, since Medialon can be network-based, we were able to use the network infrastructure already in place.”
In addition, Medialon’s ease of use made it very popular with the in-house IT and technical staff.
Medialon Manager’s next scheduled installation is in the First World War 1914-1918 Gallery, which documents Australia’s most costly war in the Gallipoli Gallery and Western Front Gallery. Medialon will subsequently be added to Aircraft Hall, where a number of classic aircraft are on permanent display, and ANZAC Hall, the newest exhibition space where sound and light are used in innovative ways and objects become screens telling compelling stories of Australia’s servicemen and servicewomen. “Next year, Medialon will go online in the refurbished Post-1945 Conflicts Gallery where the system has the potential “to double the size of the gallery’s multimedia offerings,” Stevenson notes
In the second project, Medialon is a key component of artist Anne Kay’s installation in the lobby of Westpac Headquarters. Westpac is Australia’s leading bank. Kay displays 700 video clips documenting the history of the Westpac building site on two glass walls. Medialon interfaces with a pair of Dataton Watchout display machines to implement random playback on the side-by-side surfaces. Medialon software intelligence further controls playback of the clips pending certain conditions, such as limiting onscreen audio to one display surface at a time.