Totem kiosks go back to the medieval era

Touch screen interactive kiosks developed by Bristol group Totem Design Consultants to represent events in Anglo-Saxon Wessex 1000 years ago are to be installed in Shaftesbury Abbey Museum and Bath Abbey during the next month.

An initial version of the display, commissioned by Bradford on Avon Town Council in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Heritage Services, was installed last month in Bradford on Avon.

The system encourages user interaction with quizzes and investigative tasks. CD-Rom versions of the system, with associated literature, will be distributed to local schools to coincide with the introduction of the additional interactive kiosks.

“The Millennium Tale interactive display has proved an ideal way of introducing a lot of stimulating information into environments which otherwise would not have the space to cover such an extensive topic,” says Totem design director Len Upton. The project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Millennium Festival Fund.