Markets /markets Customer Profiles /markets/customerProfiles/default.asp Denver Zoo /markets/customerProfiles/DenverZoo/default.asp Denver Zoo Denver, Colorado Entertainment /markets/customerProfiles/DenverZoo/imgs/image_front_entrance_pano.jpg /markets/customerProfiles/DenverZoo/imgs/image_lion_look_people_dp.jpg /markets/customerProfiles/DenverZoo/imgs/image_lioness_ridge_silhouette03_dp.jpg /markets/customerProfiles/DenverZoo/imgs/image_predator_ridge_pano03.jpg Denver Zoo /assets/literature/Vertical.Markets.Denver.Zoo.pdf /assets/literature/thumbs/ent_DenverZoo.jpg PDF | 548 KB 2005 1 The Denver Zoo is different from other zoos in the United States, thanks in large part to a solid commitment to harnessing today's most cutting edge technology. Here, for example, visitors enter through the main entrance plaza to ambient sound effects and the calls of wild animals piped into hidden strategically placed speakers. This successfully sets the mood and builds the level of excitement for adults and children of all ages. It's a subtle, yet effective, entertainment aspect of the zoo that can be traced back directly to the operation of a MAX Integrated Content Server and NI-3000 Controller. "With AMX, we're adding an entirely new element to our visitors' experience, one that doesn't have to be read off a sign or listened to from a live person," said Craig Piper, Executive Vice President and COO of the Denver Zoo. "The content delivery solution we have with MAX allows us to get much more expressive with our messaging, the ability to handle it very efficiently and to increase the level of visitor enrichment, education and understanding." Not to mention the opportunity to get "wildly" creative: Located next to the appropriately named Predator Ridge, one of the zoo's completely revamped exhibits and currently its most popular attraction, is a smaller African landscape with the ravaged bones of an African Cape Buffalo carcass — a lion's kill zone. Built-in speakers that blend without notice into the terrain sit idle . until the loud roar of an actual lion resonates before the unsuspecting crowd. Heads turn. Where's the lion? Now that's interactive. "By using the (content delivery) technology to do this, we are actively generating greater interest in the animals," Piper added. "Once they see the kill site, the audience is ready for the real lions at Predator Ridge. The Master Plan This journey began eight years ago, when zoo officials agreed that some of the exhibits and facilities had become antiquated. A significant amount of the focus was on the existing technology — 50-year old mechanisms that were, at the time, deemed obsolete. In 1996, the zoo had celebrated its 100th birthday. The time had come to propose a visionary blueprint called The Millennium Master Plan, a collective zoo modernization process outlined through the input of zoo architects, veterinarians, wildlife biologists and conservationists. It would require four different phases of long-term improvements to animal habitats and buildings on the 80-acre site. The cost: approximately $125 million. In 1999, Denver's mayor, the Parks and Recreation Department and city voters approved the initiative. In 2002, AMX would enter the equation. We're experts in designing facilities for animals and our guests," Piper said, "but we didn't know how to implement our goals to find more flexible, interactive ways to communicate messages to our audience." Piper contacted ECOS Communications, an industry expert in interpretive graphic design and exhibit fabrication, located in nearby Boulder, Colorado, to lead this effort. The zoo had worked with ECOS for the past 10 years on other projects and its track record in creativity, quality and accuracy fit right into the zoo's immense master plan. The first step involved one of the zoo's interactive elements most taken for granted: sound. "I was interested in expanding upon the smaller audio elements being implemented in many of our exhibits," Piper explained. "We had visuals on signage that allowed visitors to press a button and activate a recorded message — educational information about animals and natural habitats. I wanted something more flexible, reliable and easier to manage than that. All Roads Lead to Digital In response to this need, ECOS conducted a search for a company that could provide a viable audio and video distribution and management solution. New technology was paramount for the new exhibits coming online. Enter Digital Roads, Inc., a systems integrator and AMX Dealer located in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and the first introduction of the MAX Integrated Content Server — robust, seamless and expandable. Exactly what the zoo had in mind. "We originally competed with four other companies for the design of this project," said Jamie Trader, Lead Engineer and Programmer at Digital Roads. "We worked closely with ECOS, the Zoo's architect and their IT department over the course of four months to work out the details. Once our design was complete the Zoo selected Digital Roads as the integrator. "One of the major reasons the zoo chose us to design their project was because our team proposed a solution that included a flexible and scalable audio and video distribution system. That solution was centered around MAX," said Shelby Hood, President of Digital Roads. Trader added. "Their search called for a company that would be able to accommodate the designs for this first exhibit and for the next 10 years worth of exhibits. Looking back, we think we were chosen because we brought in new technology that would work over a fiber network, achieving a technologically superior solution." "Because of our expertise in fiber optics, information technology, control programming and audio visual systems integration we were a good fit for this project" said Hood. "Our infrastructure design was prepared to accommodate each new exhibit upgrade," Trader added. "Right now media distribution over the fiber network is limited to Predator Ridge. All we have to do is light the fiber as the new exhibits are constructed and we are ready to install a full spectrum of audio and video capabilities." The Main Objectives The zoo's primary objective was to effectively deliver audio (and in the future, video) out to the different interactive exhibits on such an expansive campus (80 acres and 80-plus buildings). Its secondary concern was how to efficiently manage all of this media content. Lastly, the technology in place must be engineered to operate at a high level, 24/7. With MAX, the zoo's IT department can commission just a few people to handle content delivery functions over the local network. It's safe, easy to use and reliable. The content can also be changed or updated at any time. Virtually no network downtime, ever. That keeps the zoo's IT personnel happy, especially considering the problems encountered with interactive kiosks developed and used in the past. "Prior to MAX, the technology within the kiosk had to be placed within the physical area of the exhibit," Piper explained. "Dust from the environment, animal feathers and animal hair would have a negative effect on the equipment. MAX has proven much more reliable." That's because the MAX unit resides in an equipment rack located in one of the zoo's administrative buildings. Installation on-site at the actual exhibit is not required. You'll also find the NI-3000 Controller on the rack, too, programmed to switch integrated sources on the network that are feeding and displaying the digital content throughout the zoo's college-size campus. Content Mastery Having the ability to change content at will using MAX has spearheaded the zoo's charge to implement some rather creative applications — in the most surprising places. A series of "special" sound bytes developed by the zoo's editing team, which collaborated closely with ECOS, can be heard in the men and women's public restrooms located at the entry plaza. The team simply gets all the desired information on a CD, burns it to the MAX unit and finally prepares it for distribution to the right destination (all over the network, of course). In this case, between every few seconds of nature sound effects, a female voice with an English accent comes through the restroom's ceiling speakers. Interesting facts about wild animals. For instance, did you know that an elephant urinates up to 30 gallons at one time (followed by a sound byte of an elephant taking care of its business)? Talk about your perfect timing. "It's not uncommon for one family member to go in, come out and tell the others that they have to go listen," Piper said. "The restrooms are getting a huge response. I admit that several visitors have told me that they have stayed in the restroom longer just to hear more. "It's not only a place to have fun with the audio but also to seriously inform visitors of the zoo's work in the community, such as our ongoing efforts to invest in water conservation," he added. "We are taking that time to urge each visitor to do the same. These are important messages we want to get across, and this is a great place to do it in such a creative manner." Video on the Horizon Now that the zoo has audio down pat, what's next? Video content delivery. The ability to harness MAX to send video recordings to LCD monitors and plasma screens at various exhibits and educational facilities throughout the zoo campus. Piper envisions that, with MAX, the zoo will be able to show Predator Ridge visitors real-life video of such things as the landscape of the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya, Africa. This will provide a virtually side-by-side comparison of how well the zoo re-created this natural habitat for the exhibit's 14 African species of mammals that include lions, hyenas, wild dogs, mongoose and others. Then there's the stuff you don't generally get to see up close. Cameras placed in the hidden maternity den of Predator Ridge will be networked to send video back to the MAX unit, offering visitors an intimate look at mother lions tending to their newly born cubs. The video feed can then be transported live to the monitors in the exhibit's viewing area for all to see, or recorded to MAX's video library and shown later, at any time of the year - whether an IT staff member hits a button to activate the audio/video on cue or presets everything according to a timed sequence of events. The maternity den is purposefully out-of-sight to visitors, located immediately behind an area called "Pahali ya Mwana" (Swahili for "place of the young"). This is where the zoo first showcases its young animals to the public for the very first time. "We programmed the entire system so the zoo staff would hardly have to interact with it," Trader said. "We integrated everything with adjustable timer features. When they open the gates to the zoo, for example, the audio comes to life. It will be the same with the video." Leading the Pack The zoo industry is a tight one. Needless to say, the Denver Zoo's innovative use of technology to enhance its exhibits and visitor experiences has received a significant amount of attention. Other zoos from across the country are interested in how this is all happening. The cost. The overall effort involved. The details of the master plan. So many questions and the Denver Zoo appears to possess many of the answers. "People in this industry do keep in communication with each other," Piper said. "It's an industry on a global scale but not one that is overly competitive. We are all after the same goals: to educate and entertain the audience and to do what is good for the animals. "In fact, I received an email just the other day from a zoo in St. Louis (Missouri) stating that they had heard about our audio distribution at Predator Ridge and the public restrooms. When I explained everything, they said 'whoa, we never even thought of that.' That's usually the kind of response I get with what we have accomplished."