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venuescIndependence Seaport Museum’s Concert HallUpgraded To Serve Deaf and Hearing-Challenged CommunityLatest in hearing-assistance technology used in “Theater for the Deaf.”Electrosonic Systems Inc. has performed a system upgrade to the Concert Hall at IndependenceSeaport Museum at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia, to transform the theater into a technologically-advancedspace for the deaf and hearing-challenged communities in the city and beyond.Electrosonic was charged with providinga multi-use entertainment systemthat was simple for the staff to operate.The Independence Seaport Museum,located on Philadelphia’s waterfront,uses the Concert Hall for many differenttypes of functions: high schoolband rehearsals, ballet performancesand Congressional hearings amongthem. The Museum wanted to expandits capabilities to include corporatemeetings, movie presentations and aTheater for the Deaf that could providecaptions for both filmed and livepresentations, the latter with a transcriberproviding real-time captioning.“The Seaport Museum’s 530-seatConcert Hall is a perfect venue for thedeaf or hearing-challenged communities,”notes Kevin J. McNamara, vicepresident of development and marketing.“There are very few meetingfacilities, performance venues or theatersthat can serve these communitieslike we can. We can not only turn oncaptioning for films but also for meetingsand conferences. The screen cancome down and what the person onthe ‘smart’ podium says is transcribedand comes up behind the speaker inthe theater. It sounds simple, but thereare not many places where this canhappen.”To that end Electrosonic equipped theConcert Hall with the newest audio-visualequipment, including a retractablescreen, digital projector, four speakersand a ‘smart’ podium. Also availableare the latest in hearing- assistancetechnology, including real-timecaptioning-compatible presentationcapabilities, closed captioning-enabledprojection equipment, and an infraredassisted-listening system with modernheadsets. Electrosonic has devisedcustom programming for the venue toallow staff to shift from one type ofpresentation to the other with a simplepush of a button.Sources feeding the projector includea Pioneer DVD-V5000 professionalDVD player with Link Electronicscaption decoding which can be turnedon and off from the control systemplus a PC feed from the stage andESI custom input panel on the equipmentrack. The system also includesan input connection in the projectionbooth for the real-time captioning systemprovided by another vendor.An Extron MGP462 multiple windowvideo and graphic processor allows twoseparate images to be displayed on theprojection screen; it also supports realtimecaptioning. The projection systemis based around a Sanyo XF-60A6500-lumen XGA LCD projector withSanyo LNS-T02 2.0-2.6 zoom lens.,it displays on a Dalite 13.5x18-footprofessional Electrol motorized screenon the stage.The sound reinforcement system featuresa Peavey Digitool MC 8x8 audiomixer/processor and QSC MD-FP152full-range loudspeakers located eachside of the stage which allow for finetuning of the audio coverage to maximizeaudience sound quality. DualBag End high-power 18-inch subwoofersare also included for additionalthump factor, greatly enhancing thehearing-challenged visitor experiencewith a physical interaction with thesound. Listen Technology’s LS-82-SIR IR-based assisted-listening systemis also included with 32 stethoscopeheadsets for visitor use.A Crestron MC2E system controllerwith TPS-2000L 5-inch color touchpanel in the equipment rack provides agraphical user interface for easy operation.c o n t i n u e d o n page 4336 Tour Guide Journal