State Library of Victoria Brings Ned Kelly to Life with Fujitsu Technology

Melbourne, March 05, 2003

The State Library of Victoria has brought Ned Kelly to life with dazzling 3D animations and other multimedia presentations using advanced media distribution software and display technologies from Fujitsu Australia.

The presentations are featured at the Library's 'Kelly Culture: reconstructing Ned Kelly' exhibition, which runs from 28 February to 25 May. The exhibition has attracted more than 5000 visitors in its first three days of opening.

The centrepiece of the multimedia display is a 3D model of the famous bushranger's armour created by Melbourne firm Metraform. The model is shown on a 50-inch Fujitsu Plasma screen, hung vertically in portrait mode. The presentation runs for six minutes at a time, letting visitors see the suit from every angle and learn how it was made.

Another Fujitsu Plasma screen shows a 70-minute film of excerpts about Ned Kelly. Two multimedia kiosks feature interviews with Booker prize winning author Peter Carey, a video clip of 'Our Sunshine' by singer Paul Kelly and material about Kelly that appears in everyday life such as TV ads and the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. A touch-screen kiosk also contains a jukebox full of Ned Kelly-related songs.

Driving the displays is TELentice, a powerful software application developed in Australia by Fujitsu Australia Software Technology Pty Ltd (FAST). This system provides the Library with greatly increased flexibility and control over sophisticated multimedia content.

"With TELentice we can program and schedule all multimedia content in advance and easily make changes to content items such as film credits," explains Ms Edwina Portelli, Exhibitions Manager, State Library of Victoria. "Previously all our multimedia displays were standalone and we'd have to set them up to present a continuous block of material."

The flexibility to control display schedules and alter presentation content has greatly improved the Library's ability to support events that occur outside normal exhibition hours, such as school group tours, corporate hospitality events and even rock concerts.

TELentice is a multimedia distribution system created to enable organisations to distribute specific content to a range of display units, according to schedules defined by the system owner. It achieves this by allowing every display device in every location to be treated as a unique 'channel'. The software has now been sold in locations around the world and continues to be developed and supported by FAST in Australia.

According to Ian Patterson, Technology Services Manager at the State Library of Victoria, the institution is keen to extend its use of TELentice beyond the current exhibition initiative.

"We want to be able to chop and change multimedia content centrally, and we want to be able to manage associated display devices centrally," he says. "We also want to explore the use of the system for all our digital signage and the distribution of messages across the library as a whole."

To learn more about TELentice, visit Fujitsu Australia Software Technology (FAST).

For details on the Ned Kelly exhibition, phone +61 3 8664 7000 or visit the State Library of Victoria.

Note: The image of Ned Kelly's armour (above) is reproduced courtesy of the State Library of Victoria.