Article

Qatar National Library 

Phygital Experiences 

The Qatar National Library (QNL) is part of the “Education City” neighborhood in Doha. This monumental construction is a multidisciplinary building driven by innovation and interactive technologies. Over the last few years, QNL has reinvented its services through various interactive media devices in order to provide personalized content at every stage of the visitor’s journey.

The design of the interactive installations, applications, content, and features are put into a much broader context expressed by the vision and objectives of the Qatar Foundation.

The Phygital Experiences department has equipped the library with interactive systems including 4 Media Walls, 11 double-sided Totems, 4 Augmented Reality Wayfinding Kiosks and 22 Touch Screens for the Heritage Area.

Phygital Experiences - Qatar National Library

1. MEDIA WALLS

Four Media Walls are located at the entrance of the library to welcome visitors, similar to a reception desk. The Media Walls are an inspiring communication tool for:

  • Promotional tool for events, library collections, books, authors, etc.
  • Displaying practical information and communicating around the mission of the Library and Qatar Foundation.
  • Teaser experience revealing different media topics, attracting young & old to discover related library assets.
  • Entertainment through games and recreational applications.
  • Live streaming of events within the Library.
  • Access to custom information tailored to visitor’s profiles

 

2. TOTEMS

The alignment of 11 interactive totems offers QNL visitors an endless source of content presented in an innovative and intuitive way. This setup enables 22 people to interact simultaneously. The content has been tailored to the library services and applications, it includes the following features:

  • Passive Mode (incl. Events, News, Authors, Videos, Choreography, etc.)
  • Main Menu (Home, Language, Magnifier, Tutorial)
  • Content Browser (Public Catalogue Books, Authors, News, Articles, etc.)
  • Wayfinding 3D Map
  • Calendar
  • Video Library
  • Drawing Tool
  • Souvenir Photo Booth
  • Games

3. WAYFINDING KIOSK

These four wayfinding kiosks provide QNL visitors with useful information and innovative guidance through the Library. The kiosks have been located in strategic spaces with large viewpoints on the venue. Based on augmented reality, users can see POI which are displayed on top of the live video stream of the background scenery. Touch a POI to learn more and classify them by category.

4. HERITAGE AREA TOUCH SCREENS

The heritage zone exhibition area has been equipped with 22 touch screens, with the objective to enhance the visitor experience. A unique graphic interface, including a choice of various templates, has been designed for a variety of content (text, images and video) explaining the adjacent physical artefacts. Visitors are invited to explore and intuitively browse through the content. Similar to other interactive devices, the content is managed by the library staff through the content management system (CMS).

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