Dueling Dinosaurs ‘Camera Interactive’

Touchscreen Kiosk and Live Video Processing systems

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh, North Carolina

Dueling Dinosaurs Camera Interactive

Enhancing Visitor Engagement within a Landmark Exhibit

Project Summary

An interactive camera system for the Dueling Dinosaurs exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. This system aims to provide visitors with a real-time view into the fossil preparation lab, enhancing their educational experience and engagement via an interactive touchscreen kiosk environment for viewing live laboratory footage of the famous Dueling Dinosaurs fossils and their excavation.

Tools

  • Kiosk Application: Windows PCs with touchscreen monitors
  • Video Encoders: Matrox Maevex video encoders
  • Cameras: Sony SRG-XB25 cameras with web control interfaces
  • Server: Dell R750 Linux Media Server
  • Web API: Drupal JsonAPI
  • Media Processing: OpenCV/Python

Implementation

  • Kiosk Application: Developed a kiosk application operating in the SECU Dinolab on Windows PCs in kiosk mode using web browsers on touchscreen monitors. The application provides real-time research updates and browsing of the live laboratory video.
  • Video Encoders and Streaming: Installed four Matrox Maevex video encoders to provide live video feeds to on-premise kiosks in 4K resolution and to YouTube in 1080p HD, ensuring high-quality streaming.
  • Camera Setup: Deployed four Sony SRG-XB25 cameras with web control interfaces, providing different customizable views of the lab activities.
  • Control and Media Server: Set up a control PC to manage the server and encoder interface. The Dell R750 Linux Media Server supports a Web API for live content updates to kiosks and processes media using OpenCV and Python for daily time-lapse videos.
  • Content Management System (CMS): Implemented a CMS for managing kiosk content, allowing museum staff to easily add, edit, and update research updates and fossil highlights via a dedicated control PC.
  • Timelapse Processing: Configured a system to capture images from live video feeds every 20 minutes, process them nightly, and update the timelapse video daily, providing a condensed version of daily activities.