Rachael Burns: Freelance developer and programmer of interactive media for galleries, museums and global visitor attractions

Museum of Liverpool

Rachael Burns — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:54:14 +0000

This new museum located on the waterfront tells the story of Liverpool with diverse exhibits housed in a stunning building. The museum demonstrates Liverpool’s unique contribution to the world and showcases popular culture while tackling social, historical and contemporary issues.

ROLE:
For Phase 3 of the museum opening, I created 4 multimedia exhibits, one of which contains 4 sub games. Two of these programs were also created as web versions to be used on the Museum of Liverpool’s website.

Chopin Museum

Rachael Burns — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:47:14 +0000

This interactive multimedia museum is located in the center of Warsaw and is dedicated to the life and works of the composer Frederik Chopin. Each of the four floors of the palace is devoted to life and work of the composer from a different perspective.
RFID cards allow users explore a personalised museum experience in one of 8 languages.

ROLE:
I programmed the front end interaction of 17 different exhibits which linked to a pre-built CMS which handled the changing of languages and insertion of content.

Little Company of Mary Heritage Centre

Rachael Burns — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:46:34 +0000

The Little Company of Mary was founded by Venerable Mary Potter in Nottingham on the 2nd July 1877.

Recently a visitor centre to celebrate the life and works of Mary Potter opened in Nottingham.

ROLE:
For this permanent exhibition I programmed two pieces of touchscreen software. One based around audio and video content from various members of the Little Company of Mary around the world. The second concentrating more on the history of the company.

Hong Kong Wetlands Park

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:12:19 +0000

The Hong Kong Wetland Park comprises a 10,000 square meter large visitor centre, Wetland Interactive World, and a 60-hectare Wetland Reserve.

Each piece of software was designed to draw the user into learning through mixed media in a visually interesting way. These interactive media includes gameplay scenarios, audio and video files. All are translated into four languages which could be changed by the user at any point.

ROLE:
I was solely responsible for programming ten different kiosk interactives for this world class tourism, educational and conservation facility.

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:08:41 +0000

At Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum you can explore the game’s evolution from a garden party pastime to a multimillion dollar professional sport played world-wide: with exciting interactives, and films. This state of the art museum has touch screen consoles for visitors to interact with to find out more about the players and the tournament itself.

These programs give a broad range of easily accessible information to the user based on various subjects. Some interface with external hardware to give a more physically interactive experience and a selection generate statistics based on user input. The majority include audio and video integration for a rich media experience.

Subjects of the interactives range from information about players over the years, the fashion, even facts and figures about where tennis balls are manufactured.

The museum has won London Attraction of the Year, and achieved a Special Commendation in the 2008 European Museum of the Year Award.

ROLE:
I was sole programmer of all fifteen completely bespoke kiosk interactives situated in the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.

John Rylands Library

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:07:06 +0000

Built in the 1890s, the John Rylands Library is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world; both the building and its collections are of outstanding international significance.

These visually stunning interactives concentrate mainly on the life and work of the illuminator Remiet and also feature specially commissioned video to help tell the story.

ROLE:
I programmed a selection of interactives in the new visitor centre for the re-opening of the John Rylands Library in Manchester.

Shipley Art Gallery

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:15 +0000

The Shipley is the North East’s leading gallery of design and contemporary craft. A recent £650,000 redevelopment, resulting in the stunning Designs for Life gallery, showcases over 300 objects. The Shipley also houses an outstanding painting collection including William Irving’s The Blaydon Races.

This program was designed to bring to life Irving’s eclectic, visually rich painting.

The interactive painting is brought to life via conversations with various characters, therefore the piece also needed to contain various sections of audio and video. The software also needed to cater for the hard of hearing, BSL subtitles and sign language were used throughout.

ROLE:
I was required to create a standalone rollerball kiosk which was also optimised for duplication and distribution on CD-Rom for school learning.

Lincoln Museum

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:54:58 +0000

Situated in the heart of historic Lincoln, The Collection brings together Lincoln’s archaeology museum and the Usher Gallery in one fantastic visitor centre. The Collection includes a wealth of artefacts from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, Roman, Saxon, Viking and Medieval eras as well as fine, decorative and contemporary visual arts.

These interactives focus mainly around gameplay in an effort to be fun and more interesting for the younger users. Nevertheless, the programs contain substantial amounts of information.

ROLE:
I programmed four exhibits designed to educate the user in the lifestyle of different classes through varying times in history.

Liverpool Cathedral

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:53:57 +0000

Liverpool Cathedral is the largest cathedral in the UK and the fifth largest in the world. The cathedral is both fascinating and unique as a tourist attraction and three programs were commissioned to help illustrate this.

These three visually rich programs were designed to educate about the life and times of the building. It’s history, it’s relevance and it’s vital statistics.

Amongst the wealth of information there are interfaces designed to magnify images, fun ways of exploring facts about the building and immersive 3D visualisations of the cathedral.

ROLE:
I programmed three pieces of software which are displayed on three sides of a moveable interactive station. The station can be wheeled around inside the cathedral for convenience.

Arsenal Museum

Rachael Burns — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:48:09 +0000

“Arsenal Football Club has a wonderful history which encompasses time at Woolwich, Highbury… and now Emirates Stadium. The museum offers a chance to take in many exhibits kindly donated by former players who hold a special place in Arsenal’s history…” says Arsenal historian, Iain Cook.

The Arsenal Museum uses touchscreen exhibits to detail the colourful history of this famous North London football club, from its beginnings in 1886 right up to modern day.

It houses more than a dozen fully interactive displays based on the club’s achievements and history. Championship winning managers, previous team kits, international players and the ability to choose your dream team from players past and present.

ROLE:
For the exhibition I programmed five audio visual interactive kiosks featuring facts, stats, gameplay and engaging animation. One of these exhibits interfaced with external hardware to create that extra level of user control.