La Belle Exhibit Interactives and CMS

My Contributions to the Project

• Planned and implemented the software architecture of the custom CMS and its interfaces with the kiosk interactives
• Implemented HTML/CSS designs in the CMS
• Created custom user interface and back-end processing tools for media manipulation and optimization
• Created a system to export and deliver custom packs of content from the CMS to the kiosk interactives
• Wrote technical documentation for the CMS and overall system architecture
• Managed CMS installation

Description:
Terra Incognita was responsible for designing kiosk interactives and a companion CMS for the Bullock Texas State History Museum’s La Belle Shipwreck exhibit. Thamtech consulted on the overall software architecture, implemented the CMS, and lead the team of interactive kiosk developers.

The La Belle Shipwreck interactive exhibit system consists of:

• iPad kiosk interactives implemented in HTML/CSS/JavaScript and wrapped in a native app, and
• the Content Management System.

The custom-designed CMS manages Artifacts, 360-rotation image sets, videos, kiosk stations, and a large collection of interactive modules, each with their own set of content fields. The CMS is implemented as a PHP-based web application within the Yii framework. The CMS core provides basic functionality layered on top of the Yii framework and glues together a number of major subsystems, including:

• Managed Assets: image, video, and 360 rotation management
• AssetFS: a virtual file system for efficient storage of binary media files and content packs to be delivered to the kiosks
• Historic Date: a module supporting input, storage, and output of a very large range of historical dates
• Content Pack: structured bundles of media and data files
• Analytics: kiosk event logging and reporting
• Batch Task: asynchronous PHP background tasks