Library gets ‘touch wall’ tech
The country’s biggest digital ‘‘touch wall’’ will feature at Christchurch’s new central library.
Tu¯ ranga, on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo streets, will house a touch-sensitive, digital representation of Christchurch and the city’s history. The seven-metre-wide wall would allow users to swipe through a virtual world at the library’s scheduled opening in mid-2018.
Head of libraries and information Carolyn Robertson said the wall would become a valuable tool for learning and attracting new visitors.
‘‘Navigating your way through the touch wall’s virtual world is interactive, immersive and exciting. It’s something that people can explore together, sharing the experience and learning along the way.
‘‘People can even upload their own stories, photos and video, contributing directly to the library’s online heritage collection from their devices’’.
The wall would be a ‘‘big drawcard for visitors, allowing them to learn more about our city’s history and its future, in a fun and engaging way’’, Robertson said.
A smaller, mobile touch-wall would be taken to schools, clubs and rest homes, ‘‘taking the technology into communities and building on the good work and community service the libraries network already provides’’.
The digital wall would be designed and installed by Wellington-based visitorexperience design company Gibson Group, which has completed similar projects in the United States, Denmark and Egypt.
Gibson Group lead producer and co-owner Brett Tompkins said the wall was a ‘‘Kiwi-made experience’’, and a ‘‘vital project for Christchurch’’.
Other high-tech features planned for Tu¯ ranga include laser cutters, 3D printers, virtual reality consoles and robotics.
The $92 million five-floor building will be the largest in the South Island and a third larger than the city’s former earthquakedamaged central library.
It will include a hands-on technology and innovation zone, cafeteria, 200-seat community arena, activity rooms, exhibition space, study spaces, meeting rooms, arts and crafts space, video editing suite, music studio, two outdoor terraces and a children’s playground.