The Asian Highlands Village is the latest exhibit to open as part of the extensive redevelopment of Utah’s Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. The exhibit was designed by the Portico Group from Seattle. Working with Portico and the Zoo, Magian designed media programs as an integral part of the exhibit’s interpretive program. As well as featuring the animals, the exhibit tells the story of the way in which humans need to find ways to co-exist with wild cats to preserve these keystone species. The media programs include touchscreens, soundscapes and a keeper controlled video presentation program.  The touchscreens are large format and have been built into weather resistant housings to enable them to be mounted in the open air.

The programs feature information about the animals with a section for species identification. The programs equally feature key conservation messages as well as information about the animals’ habitats and the people who live in the same geographic locations as the animals. The keeper presentation program supports the Zoo’s regular program of animal demonstrations. Keepers use a handheld wireless PDA to control the program allowing them to control a video camera in the presentation space and to switch between this camera and pre-recorded video as part of their interaction with the Zoo visitors.  When demonstrations are not in progress staff are able to switch this program to an exhibit mode showing various videos of cat behaviors.

The programs use the Magian MMaP System. This allows staff to update and change the content in all of the programs in the Asian Highlands Village exhibit, in order to keep pace with changing information about the conservation of big cats in the wild.  The programs also inform visitors about the constant program of enrichment that Zoo staff provide for the animals in their care.  Magian designed the technical infrastructure for the project and provided the specification of all hardware.