At the Wood Museum of Springfield History exhibit Horn Man: The Life and Musical Legacy of Charles Neville, several Holosonics AS-168i Audio Spotlight directional sound speakers provide sanitary, touchless directional audio playlists that highlight the musician’s proficiency in a range of musical genres. Visitors to the exhibition at the museum in Springfield, MA, experience Audio Spotlight’s revolutionary directional sound beaming technology in an exhibition that promotes social distancing as it pays tribute to the late saxophonists’ life. 

To protect the health of patrons as well as staff members, museum and gallery directors are rethinking exhibit designs and audio delivery systems due the changed social landscape brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unsanitary devices such as headphones, handsets, and listening wands have become antiquated, as exhibit venues everywhere have implemented social distancing measures and touchless technologies.

Engaging visitors in an immersive, personal experience while keeping the surrounding area quiet, the flexible and self-powered Audio Spotlight directional sound speaker is a powerful tool that ensures any exhibit in a museum or gallery has its own isolated audio. By requiring no physical contact from the listener, it has become an even more valuable tool owing to its inherently touchless design that delivers personalized audio experiences. 

Known onstage as “Charlie the Horn Man,” R&B and jazz musician Charles Neville was born in 1938 in New Orleans. Influenced early in life by the New Orleans’s music scene, Charles and his siblings formed the Neville Brothers, who became best-known for songs that embraced rhythm and blues, gospel, doo-wop, soul, rock, jazz, funk, and the sounds of Mardi Gras. 

At the Wood Museum exhibit, Holosonics’ patented directional speaker technology was used to isolate sound for patrons, who are directed by floor decals indicating where to stand to hear music activated by motion sensor triggers embedded in the Audio Spotlight units. Each individual playlist in the exhibit’s five AS-168i speakers includes a selection of songs that highlight different points in Neville’s journey as a musician.

[Critical Elements of Immersive Audio]

“This exhibition that celebrates Charles Neville’s life and music would not have been complete without sound and we are happy to include the unique Audio Spotlight technology to enhance the visitor experience,” said Phyllis Jurkowski, collections specialist. “Charles Neville has been remembered as an incredibly warm and giving individual, and we hope that the directional speakers reinforce the intimate nature of this exhibition, while at the same time providing up to five visitors in the gallery the opportunity to experience directly the music which so defined him.”

Audio Spotlight directional sound technology was employed to deliver the story of nature at the Understory visitor center, located inside The Spheres conservatories on the campus of Amazon's headquarters in Seattle. Understory is a free public visitor center where guests can learn about Amazon and The Spheres. With interactive exhibits focused on flora, natural habitats, and design, the self-guided Understory exhibit provides an immersive, 360-degree experience to visitors through visual displays and spoken narratives that are beamed by Audio Spotlight speakers. The integration of Audio Spotlight at Understory was implemented by audio visual designer and integrator Whitlock and media experience designer Belle & Wissell.

At the exhibit, four AS-24i Audio Spotlight speakers produce narrow beams of sound, ensuring that each audio narrative is contained to specific spots in the large, open room. This characteristic of Audio Spotlight is perfectly aligned with the Understory exhibit as patrons are immersed in a light beam (photos on right) when they step into the spot that triggers an audio narrative. On any given day, visitors of all ages from students, local urbanites, and tourists can be seen in utter enticement as the light beams douse them in light and Audio Spotlight envelops them in sound. Featuring a thin design with a built-in amplifier, and comprised of a compact overall package, the ceiling-mounted Audio Spotlight speakers create a seamless integration at this unique and popular exhibit.

Amazon initially developed the idea for The Spheres to establish an innovative, horticulturally rich setting that would provide an experience for its employees that's typically absent in an urban office setting—a direct link to nature. From its inception in 2013 to its grand opening in January 2018, many businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest collaborated to make the project possible. Today, The Spheres are home to over 40,000 plants from the cloud forests of over 30 countries.

The Audio Spotlight speakers at the exhibit deliver sound to tight, narrow areas, just like spotlights. This spotlight effect results in sound levels dropping by over 90 percent, even just a single step outside the narrow beam of coverage, making them well suited to a variety of applications that include museums, galleries, showrooms, and other exhibits, to kiosks, digital signage, retail displays, and creative OOH advertising.