NASCAR Hall of Fame wins prestigious MUSE Award
The award recognizes the NASCAR Hall of Fame's new engine augmented reality interactive exhibit
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 22, 2020) – The NASCAR Hall of Fame and its multimedia development partner, Cortina Productions, recently won a MUSE Award from the Media & Technology Professional Network of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) for the NASCAR Hall’s engine augmented reality interactive. The interactive is part of the "Inside NASCAR" exhibit on the third floor of the NASCAR Hall that was installed last Fall as part of several enhancements made to the attraction.
"We are honored to be recognized by the AAM Media & Technology Professional Network for one of our newest augmented reality interactives,” said Kevin Schlesier, NASCAR Hall of Fame Exhibits Director. "This was one of the most challenging interactives we have developed as it required the collective ability of the team’s overlapping skills and strengths. It has been extremely rewarding to observe guests of all ages marvel at the 'inside' of an engine and learn how all the parts work together to create power."
The engine augmented reality (AR) interactive serves as a teaching tool that shows how the parts of the engine move, the flow of energy, how combustion works and the steps involved. The AR is a hand-held tablet that when positioned over the display engine allows guests to see the 3-D images of parts moving just as if they were looking inside a running engine.
Roush Yates Engines and its partners gifted the engine and the drive train, in addition to providing the 3-D digital content and expert advice.
"It was a great experience working with the NASCAR Hall of Fame team on all aspects of this project to revitalize the digital exhibit platform at the Hall,” said Jim Cortina, Principal at Cortina Productions. "Augmented Reality is just one of the digital interactive tools we leveraged to enhance the guest experience and support the Hall’s outstanding youth education programs."
Distilling the complicated workings of an engine into an experience that guests from a wide range of backgrounds can enjoy required collaboration from the entire NASCAR Hall of Fame exhibits, education and audio-visual teams. Cortina Productions was able to bring the concept of seeing inside of a NASCAR engine to life by using real-world NASCAR competition components provided by Roush Yates Engines.
The American Alliance of Museums is the premier association for museums both in the U.S. and internationally, providing accreditation and professional services. The Media and Technology MUSE Awards recognize outstanding achievement in museum media. Selected by a peer group of industry professionals, the awards celebrate scholarship, community, innovation, creativity, education and inclusiveness.
View the submission video here.
To learn more about the NASCAR Hall of Fame, its virtual offerings and the newly-announced Class of 2021, visit nascarhall.com.