Handbook for Sound Engineers

Message Repeaters and Evacuation Systems 1521

The Wa n d is 12.5 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, and

0.75 inch deep and weighs 9.2 oz, Fig. 40-4. It can hold

up to 500 selectable languages or programs or up to

8000 messages. The controls include Play, Clear, Pause,

Fast Forward, Rewind, Volume Up, and Volume Down.

It can play for 12 h continuous without charging and

can accommodate surveys, games, and educational

question-and-answer formats. Battery charging can be

accomplished in 3 hours in the charging/programming

rack.

Because of the design of the Wa n d, it is easy to

encourage corporate sponsorship including rotating

logos on the LCD screen and the flat areas on the casing

are good for applying logos and graphics.

The Mini has many of the same features as the

Wa n d. The Mini is ideal for highly produced audio

programs that blend narration, archival audio, large

interviews, music, and sound effects making exhibits

come to life. The Mini comes with headsets or single

earpieces. The unit is 5.6 inches long, 2.6 inches wide

and 0.75 inch deep and weighs 5 oz. The controls are

the same as with the Wand. It will also play for 12 h

without charging and can be fully recharged in 3 h.

The Maxim can hold 200 h of stereo sound or over

2000 h of voice in either linear, random access, or

combination tours. It can hold 500 different programs

and over 12,000 messages on each unit to provide tours

on different subjects or foreign languages. The unit is

7 inches long, 3.9 inches wide, and 1.5 inches deep and

weighs 15 oz. It has the same controls as the Wa n d and

the Mini.

The Acoustiguide storage racks recharge the

batteries and include a programming card that is about

the size of a credit card. The programs can be either

written by the client or by Acoustiguide which can

provide creative and production services. The programs

are downloaded from the Internet or from CDs onto a

laptop computer. As new material is written, recorded,

and digitized, it is put on the program card, which auto-

matically updates the players as they are being charged.

To operate the system the visitor is given a player. A

staff member sets up the player for the language and the

complexity of the tour. The tour could be long or abbre-

viated to control traffic when the museum is crowded or

can be set up for adults or children. The visitor can

adjust volume at each area to compensate for noise

level. When the visitor is at an exhibit, he or she

punches in the number corresponding to the exhibit as

shown on a placard. The visitor can then pause the

program, rewind it, or fast forward it.

Acoustiguide’s newest unit is a compact screen-based

player, developed and designed specifically for on-site

interpretation of museums and visitor venues. The Opus

series allows institutions to provide visitors access to

various digital resources—video, images, and animation,

plus the traditional audio, Fig. 40-5.

Figure 40-4. Typical wands used in museum systems.
Courtesy Acoustiguide Inc.

Acoustiguide Mini

Acoustiguide Wand

Figure 40-5. Acoustiguide Opus Touch™ screen-based

player. Courtesy Acoustiguide Inc.