The National Motor Museum, owner of the iconic British land speed record car ‘Golden Arrow’, set out with ambitious plans to showcase the vehicle and approached us to create an engaging interactive display for visitors.
The Golden Arrow was built in Britain to regain the world land speed record from the USA. In March 1929, Henry Segrave drove the car at Daytona Beach in Florida and exceeded the previous record by 24 mph, reaching a staggering 231.45mph!
The car is displayed within the museum gallery, but one of the most significant challenges was that access was limited and visitors were unable to see into the cockpit, or get a sense of the magnitude of Henry’s achievements, who was later knighted and became three times Land Speed Record Holder.
To help the visitor fully explore the vehicle, DJW re-created a 3D photo-realistic scale version of the car, taking over a 1000 photos of the car during the process of modelling the vehicle. The 3D model is presented on a large 55” 4K touch-screen display and continues to wow visitors to this day.
Now visitors can interact with the model by rotating it to reveal a number of interactive hot-spots. Each hotspot highlights an important feature of the vehicle; engine, cockpit, wheels, cooling and tailfin. By selecting a hotspot, the visitor can access deeper layers of information, for example, reveal the engine underneath the vehicle's fuselage, or experience what it was like to sit in the cockpit and turn the steering wheel.
To complement the new content, the museum had a collection of archive material to help tell the stories of the designers, engineers and sponsors who brought the vehicle to life. DJW designed an easy to use visual database to present the archive content to the visitors. As well as creating a simple Content Management System (CMS) for the client team to edit archive content featured in the database, making it easy to update the display and keep visitors engaged.
DJW succeeded in creating an immersive interactive display at the National Motor Museum. Visitors can now explore the vehicle using augmented reality and the visual display tells the inspiring story of national hero Sir Henry Segrave, the iconic Golden Arrow and the people who were associated with it, bringing history to life for generations to come.
SERVICES
Audio Visual Design
Project Engineering
Interactive Design and Programming
System Installation
Service and Support
LOCATION
National Motor Museum
Beaulieu
Hampshire, UK
DESIGNER
Far Post Design Limited
COMMISSIONED
2021