# Museum Installation with User Panels This guide covers a complete museum exhibit installation: unattended playback during visitor hours, staff-operated touchscreen kiosks that visitors interact with, and an easy-to-use maintenance panel for museum staff — all built without custom software. ## What We Are Building ``` Museum gallery │ ├─ Main display wall (3 × 1080p projectors, edge-blended) │ └── Exaplay output 1–3 (continuous content loop) │ ├─ Interactive kiosk A — Touchscreen tablet (iPad or Surface) │ └── Visitor taps topics → triggers matching content on the wall │ ├─ Interactive kiosk B — Second topic / language selector │ └── Visitor taps language → fires cue with that language's narration │ └─ Staff control tablet (back-of-house) └── Start / stop the exhibit, override content, check status ``` Everything is served from one Exaplay 3 instance. Staff and visitors access different User Panel views from their tablets — no app installation required. *** ## Part 1 — Content and Compositions ### Step 1.1 — Plan your content structure A typical museum exhibit has: | Composition | Purpose | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Idle_Loop` | Ambient background when no visitor is interacting (attract loop) | | `Topic_A` | Full-screen content for Topic A (e.g. "Ancient Egypt") | | `Topic_B` | Full-screen content for Topic B | | `Topic_C` | Full-screen content for Topic C | | `Transition_Out` | Short fade-to-idle transition | Each topic composition contains: * **Track 1** — background video (looping) * **Track 2** — narration audio (one per language variant, use cues to switch) * **Track 3** — overlay graphics (title, caption text) ### Step 1.2 — Set up Outputs 1. Open **Config → Outputs**. 2. Add outputs for each projector (e.g. Output 1: `Display 2`, Output 2: `Display 3`, Output 3: `Display 4`). 3. If projectors overlap, load VIOSO calibration files for edge blending. See [Projection Mapping](/v3/features/projection-mapping.md). 4. Assign all outputs to the same composition canvas if content should span the full wall. ### Step 1.3 — Build the CueList Create cues for every visitor-triggerable action: | Cue | Action | | ------------- | --------------------------------- | | `Go Idle` | Play `Idle_Loop` composition | | `Topic A` | Play `Topic_A` composition | | `Topic B` | Play `Topic_B` composition | | `Topic C` | Play `Topic_C` composition | | `Language EN` | Switch to English narration track | | `Language FR` | Switch to French narration track | | `Language DE` | Switch to German narration track | In the CueList panel, create each cue and configure its action. Label cues clearly — these names will appear on the User Panels. *** ## Part 2 — Building User Panels ### Step 2.1 — Open User Panel Builder 1. Navigate to the Control View (`/control`). 2. Click the **🎨 User Panels** tab. ### Step 2.2 — Create the Visitor Kiosk Panel (Kiosk A) 1. Click **+ Create Panel**. 2. Set: * **Title:** `Topics` * **Colour:** `#1a73e8` (blue) * **Description:** `Explore the exhibition` 3. Click **OK**. Add cue buttons: 1. Go to the **▶️ Playback** tab. 2. Hover over **Topic A** → click **+** → choose `Topics` panel. 3. Repeat for **Topic B**, **Topic C**, and **Go Idle**. The visitor panel now has four large tappable buttons. ### Step 2.3 — Create the Language Panel (Kiosk B) 1. Click **+ Create Panel**. 2. Set: * **Title:** `Language` * **Colour:** `#34a853` (green) 3. Add cue buttons: **Language EN**, **Language FR**, **Language DE**. ### Step 2.4 — Create the Staff Control Panel 1. Click **+ Create Panel**. 2. Set: * **Title:** `Staff Control` * **Colour:** `#ea4335` (red) * **Description:** `Museum staff only` 3. Add cue buttons: **Go Idle**, and all topic cues. 4. Go to the **Custom Control** tab. Pin the **Master Brightness** fader from the Inspector and add it to the `Staff Control` panel (useful for dimming during events or talks). See [Custom Controls](/v3/user-interface/custom-controls.md) for how to pin parameters. *** ## Part 3 — Deploying to Kiosk Tablets ### Visitor Kiosk A (Topics) Open this URL in the browser on the kiosk tablet: ``` http://:8123/topics_panel.htm ``` This URL opens the `Topics` panel directly. The slug `topics` is auto-generated from the panel title `Topics`. Put the browser in full-screen / kiosk mode (Chrome `--kiosk` flag, or an iPad kiosk app) to prevent visitors from navigating away. ### Visitor Kiosk B (Language) ``` http://:8123/language_panel.htm ``` ### Staff Tablet ``` http://:8123/staff-control_panel.htm ``` Or give staff the full Control View URL for advanced control: ``` http://:8123/control ``` *** ## Part 4 — Unattended Operation (Visitor Hours) ### Scheduler Setup Configure Exaplay to start and stop the exhibit automatically: 1. Open the **📅 Schedule** tab in the Control View. 2. Add events: | Time | Days | Action | | ------- | ------- | ----------------------------------- | | `09:00` | Mon–Sun | `Play composition: Idle_Loop` | | `18:00` | Mon–Sun | `Fade to black` | | `03:00` | Daily | `Stop` (nightly maintenance window) | ### Auto-Heal Enable Auto-Heal so that any crash is recovered without staff intervention: 1. Open **Settings → Auto-Heal** → Enable. 2. Set Save Interval to `2 s`. 3. Set Watchdog Restart to ON with a 5 s delay. The exhibit will resume the idle loop automatically after any crash. ### Windows Auto-Start ``` exaplay3.exe -f "C:\Museum\exhibit.vpp" -playcomp -autoheal-restore ``` Add to Task Scheduler on logon with a 30-second delay (to allow displays to connect). See [Permanent Installations](/v3/workflows/installations.md) for the full Windows configuration checklist. *** ## Part 5 — Returning to Idle (Auto-Reset) Museums often want interactive content to return to the idle loop if no visitor interacts for a period of time (e.g. 2 minutes). Use the **Scheduler** to fire the `Go Idle` cue at regular intervals as a fallback: 1. Add a Schedule event: `Every 2 minutes (recurring)` → `Fire cue: Go Idle`. Or implement a **Data Track** with a countdown timer that fires the cue via OSC if no input is received. See [Data Tracks](/v3/features/data-tracks.md). *** ## Part 6 — Remote Monitoring Staff can monitor the exhibit remotely (from the museum office or from home) without physically visiting the gallery: 1. Open the **📡 Monitor** tab in the Control View. 2. The **Event Log** shows every visitor cue trigger, providing a usage log. 3. The **Diagnostics Panel** (FPS, RAM, VRAM) shows if the system is under stress. If the exhibit is accessible over the museum's network from outside the gallery, save the Control View URL on the museum's intranet. *** ## Summary Checklist * [ ] Compositions created: Idle\_Loop + one per topic * [ ] CueList populated with all visitor-triggerable and language cues * [ ] User Panels created: Topics, Language, Staff Control * [ ] Cue buttons added to correct panels * [ ] Kiosk tablet URLs configured with `_panel.htm` pretty URLs (e.g. `/topics_panel.htm`) * [ ] Browsers in kiosk/full-screen mode * [ ] Scheduler configured for opening/closing times * [ ] Auto-Heal and Watchdog enabled * [ ] Windows startup task configured * [ ] Remote monitoring URL saved for staff --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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