Brussels, 15 April 2008 • From 17 April 2008 onwards, everyone can relive the Brussels World Exhibition of 1958 thanks to the StoryTraveller, designed by Navitell. The StoryTraveller guides the visitor through the 4,5 km long promenade walk and tells many interesting stories along the road. Thanks to the GPS technology, the visitor sees unique fragments from movie archives at the right location, that evoke the Expo58 atmosphere. StoryTraveller Expo58 has been realized thanks to the Brussels-Capital Region, Atomium vzw, the technology developer Navitell and the navigation specialist Mio.
Guy Vanhengel, Brussels Minister, who is responsible for Information Technology, is convinced of the added value that the StoryTraveller has to offer: “The Expo 58 still fires the imagination of those who visited the world exhibition. I was born in 1958 and therefore I only know it from hearsay. Thanks to the StoryTraveller, everyone can now see how for example the Atomium was built, where the buildings that disappeared by now were situated at the time, and how the world exhibition influenced the major infrastructure works in the Brussels area.”
The StoryTraveller brings Expo 58 back to life and satellites guide the participants through the nicest spots of the Expo. Thanks to the GPS technology, the monitor of the StoryTraveller displays the old pavilions when the visitor walks along the spot where those buildings used to be. The visitors also face the many celebrities who visited the world exhibition and can easily feel the atmosphere that reigned back in 1958. The StoryTraveller uses images from the movie archives of VRT, RTBF and Belgavox. 50% of the route consists of visual reports and makes you stand still and enjoy; the other 50% consists of audio stories, which entertain you while walking around, including some swinging 50’s music fragments.
Bruno De Lille, Chairman of Atomium vzw, explained: “In 1958 the Atomium was above all the symbol of progress and the modern way of life. In fact, we still want it to be that now. We are therefore very proud to be able to offer our visitors this digital video guide. By using ultramodern technology, people can now experience the past again.”
The StoryTraveller Expo 58 is available in 5 languages: English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish. “Furthermore, two versions for children have been developed in Dutch and French. Thus, grandparents and their grandchildren can enjoy together the numerous nice stories linked with Expo 58. Each in its own vocabulary. These new features have been added to the StoryTraveller technology in the past months to make the experience even more intense for everyone. Culture, heritage and tourism, all are custom-made thanks to the technology”, says Isabelle Maenhout, CEO of Navitell.
The digital video guides are available to the public free of charge until 19 October 2008, thanks to the cooperation between the Brussels-Capital Region, the Atomium, software developer Navitell and the navigation specialist Mio.
About Navitell and StoryTraveller
Navitell is a Belgium-based software company that brings stories and information to life anywhere in the world. The StoryTraveller is one of Navitell’s products which allows people to watch and listen to stories of the area on a mobile phone or PDA with GPS function. Thanks to the software bridge between the satellites and the multimedia device with built-in GPS connection, the StoryTraveller becomes the perfect virtual guide. It brings history back to life by narrating stories at the right place and at the right time. Everything happens fully automatically. Just plug in the earphones, push the start button and let the magic do its work.
Navitell is with the StoryTraveller a worldwide trendsetter in the domain of culture, heritage and tourism. Meanwhile, the power of mobile storytelling software has also been discovered in other domains, which inspired Navitell to develop as well ‘StoryCook’ and ‘StoryCoach’.
Together with the navigation specialist Mio new experience treasures are being developed. Both companies want to provide mobile technology with a warm heart.
www.navitell.com
www.mio.com
About Expo 58
The Brussels World Exhibition took place from 17 April to 19 October 1958 with 51 participating countries and attracted more than 42 million visitors. The most famous building of this world exhibition is the Atomium. Expo 58 still fires the imagination and to mark its 50th anniversary many events are being organized.
www.atomium.bewww.brussels-expo58.be/home.htmlhttp://blog.atomium.be/
Contact:
Isabelle Maenhout, CEO Navitell
tel. +32 498 522 322, navitell@panneels.com (Panneels & Partners)
Ilse De Braekeleer, Atomium vzw
tel. +32 2 475 47 74, ilse@atomium.be
Nadya De Beule, spokeswoman Minister Guy Vanhengel
tel. +32 2 209 28 48, ndebeule@vanhengel.irisnet.be
