Monday, October 15, 2012
If
you have not been to Over the Rhine recently, you need to go and visit Washington Park the next time you are in the city. The recently redeveloped park located across
the street from Music Hall and adjacent to the new School for the Creative and
Performing Arts is an absolute gem. Not
only is it an inviting and welcoming place for people of all stripes, it now
has a high tech way to experience the beauty of the park and learn about Classical
Music at the same time.
Cincinnati
is the home of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, a nationally
recognized body that honors individuals and organizations that have made
extraordinary contributions to Classical Music in the United States. Recently they dedicated The Walk of Fame
in Washington Park. The Walk is an
interactive classical music educational experience that is integrated into the
park. The Walk of Fame is the only project in the world that combines classical
music, mobile technology, public spaces, and a dancing fountain. The experience
begins with pavement stones engraved with names of Hall of Fame inductees –
similar to the Hollywood Stars. But the
Walk of Fame is also about learning, fun, and classical music, so it doesn’t
stop there.
Visitors
to the park who have a smart phone can access a special website www.classicalWOF.org and, once connected using the
phone’s GPS location app, will have
access to a multimedia experience like no other in the world. On the device, they will see all the content
for Hall of Fame inductees (pictures, bio, links, and movies) and if a user
wishes to hear a short music sample (3 minutes or less) of an inductee, they
click a music icon on their device.
Here
is where it gets really neat. If you select music choice number one
on the smart phone, you will be able to hear the music played on your
phone/device through the device’s headphones.
If you select choice
two, the music selection will be sent to the park’s virtual jukebox and put in
a queue prioritized by order selected and/or popularity (if more people in the
park simultaneously select the same example, it will move to the top of the
list). The music will then be played through the park’s public speaker system
in the Walk of Fame zone!
If you opt for choice
three, the selection will be added to the jukebox queue and will play through
the park’s public speaker system in the Fountain zone. The fountain is an interactive
water feature that also acts as a splash park in the summer months. When the music plays through the fountain
system, it will trigger dancing fountain technology so that the fountain jets
and lights will move and react to the music being played.
This is truly a unique
experience. It is a great place to take
out-of-town guests and show them something unique about Cincinnati that couples high tech and the
fine arts. With the weather turning colder you may wish to wait till spring but
your visit will be worth it. If you want
to get a preview you can visit www.classicalWOF.org from any computer.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home