Leading AV specialist, Alcorn McBride, has supplied new video players as part of a systems upgrade at the Muhammad Ali Centre in Louisville, Kentucky.
The international cultural centre and museum features three levels of award-winning exhibits and galleries. It tells the story of Muhammad Ali’s life, career and legacy. The centre also invites visitors to reflect on their own values.
A range of interactive and multimedia exhibits explore the six core principles that Ali embraced throughout his life. These are Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect and Spirituality. Each is represented in six individual pavillions.
To ensure a cutting-edge visitor experience, the centre asked Video Solutions Inc. of Louisville to perform a systems upgrade. This encompassed control systems, displays, playback devices and servers across the building. The museum remained open to the public throughout the project.
“Some systems were experiencing reliability problems over time and others were obsolete platforms,” explains Mike Little, President of Video Solutions Inc.
Little chose Alcorn McBride’s DVM8500 single-channel HD video players and A/V Binloop HD multi-channel synchronous video players to replace the Centre’s outdated proprietary servers and playback equipment. In fact, he was already familiar with their performance, having installed them at the Kentucky Science Centre.
“These solid-state players offered the Muhammad Ali Centre greatly improved reliability and flexible control,” comments Little. “In fact, we built a control layer that turns the whole museum into a one-button operation. This can also be customised for special events.”
Interactive Exhibit Lets Visitors ‘Train With Ali’
“It’s important for the centre to stay up to date and innovative to keep visitors coming. Also, to maximise and personalise their experience at the centre,” says Jeanie Kahnke, Senior Director of Public Relations and External Affairs at the Muhammad Ali Centre.
“In 2016 we had about 100,000 visitors, 25,000 of them came during the week after Muhammad Ali’s passing.”
Museum highlights include a 14-minute film, If You Can Dream and interactive exhibit Train With Ali. The latter is an opportunity for guests to test their boxing skills against the Champ. There is also the chance to view 15 of Ali’s most famous fights on demand.
“Virtually all the digital exhibit stations in the Core Pavillions that were server based are now Alcorn McBride based,” adds Little.
