News http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk Here at ATS Heritage we've recently started work on an enormously exciting new project at Rochester Cathedral. Late last year, as part of a £200,000 Heritage Lottery Fund initiative, we were awarded the contract to provide the entire AV needs to Britain's second oldest cathedral and now we're well underway with the project. In addition to providing audio tours in four languages for both adults and children, we're building on our accessibility portfolio by creating specially designed handheld tours for hearing impaired and visually impaired visitors. We're also bringing back to life the medieval frescos that once adorned the cathedral's walls but have suffered due to the inescapable ravages of time, leaving them faded and discoloured. Recreations of the frescos, including the world famous Wheel of Fortune, will be projected onto the walls to show what they looked like in all their glorious colour over half a millennium ago. Also beamed onto the interior walls of the cathedral will be animations and images that reveal more about the history of the building and the people associated with it, and visitors will even be able to listen along to synchronised commentary using their audio guides. The Rochester Cathedral venture will be ready for completion early in the spring and will be just one of a number of high-profile and prestigious projects that ATS Heritage will be delivering during the first half of 2009. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news_rochester-cathedral-1.php ATS has been selected to take over the audioguides contract at this charming historic National Trust property. ATS will be producing a new Children’s Tour plus a new Download Centre facility in time for its Spring opening in 2009. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php The Ken Hawley Collection is the latest museum to order one of ATS Heritage's renowned Talking Phones to present its oral history clips. The collection, based at the University of Sheffield, features a wide range of tools and cutlery and provides an important reminder of what has been one of the region's major industries for several hundred years. Soon, thanks to one of our innovative Oral History Telephones, visitors to the collection will be able to listen to a selection of unique and interesting audio clips concerning the history of edge tools and the part they've played in the lives of those involved in their production. These telephones have proved enormously popular with curators and visitors throughout the UK and are an affordable and imaginative way to present voices and sounds of the past. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php Bamburgh Castle is one of the most imposing castles in all of England and will shortly be benefitting from an audio tour created by ATS. Home of the Armstrong family, descendents of the engineering mastermind Sir William Armstrong, the castle sits on a basalt crag on the shores of the North Sea and dominates a beautiful part of the Northumberland coastline. Part of the castle has now been turned into a museum detailing the life and achievements of the Victorian engineer and there are a number of rare and important exhibits on display. Thanks to the audio tours that are currently being produced here at ATS Heritage, visitors will soon be able to get a detailed insight into the collection and find out more about the fascinating life of one of the UK's most illustrious inventors. We're pleased that Bamburgh Castle has followed in the footsteps of many other independent historical properties by choosing to present their tour on Orpheo audio guides, providing layered, unobtrusive interpretation and a great user experience. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php The National Trust has again chosen ATS to develop an bespoke and seasonal Talking Post for the grounds of this magnificent country house built by eminent Victorian, Lord Armstrong. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS recently designed and installed robust Talking Posts for bi-lingual interpretation of two of the Countryside Council’s coastal sites. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS Heritage announces an important consultancy and design project at this medieval cathedral. Forming part of the HLF-funded ‘Ancient Stones, Untold Stories’ project, ATS will be realising a mix of interpretation concepts and solutions. As well as audiotours, there will be projected images of historical characters and the Cathedral’s ancient frescoes onto areas of the interiors and doors. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php This Georgian mansion will soon be offering its visitors Orpheo audioguides in English and Irish for tours of the building and collection. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS Heritage has won this major contract with Merlin Entertainments Group, the owners of Warwick Castle. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php The National Trust has awarded ATS Heritage another important brief to produce accessible downloadable audiotrail content for visitors to the estate. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php Work commences in September 08 on the development of a new automatically controlled AV display to interpret this highly popular, large-scale model of Lewes town. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php Building on ATS' experience of town trails, this community-led project will use oral history and lively narratives with much local input. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php Continuing their success in combining new technology with accessible interpretation ATS Heritage is developing a new multi-media handheld project for the National Trust at this prestigious site. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php After another supplier let them down ATS Heritage came up with the goods in quick time to provide Orpheo audio guides for their new Centre. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php The College of Arms, by Royal Appointment, grants permission to use coats of arms and researches heraldry. ATS has supplied Orpheo Audioguides for tours of the Heralds' displays in its seventeenth century royal court and office building. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS is proud to be able to help realise another small display of Oral history using specially-designed Talking Phones and other audio interactive including a 1930s radio and other sound effects. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php The company will produce new audio-tours of these specialised collections. Tour content will include clips of the actual instruments being played, plus extra insight given by the musicians themselves. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS is helping design another version of its successful a solar-powered audio system for this project which features Andy Goldsworthy sculptures and inspiring poetry. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php This forward-thinking museum has chosen our Orpheo Neo handhelds Video Guide for its HLF funded project to improve access and interpretation. ATS will be producing multimedia interpretation for new displays of their military artefacts and other interpretation of their associated Regiments. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php Bespoke Oak audioposts have been provided for this oral history-based celebration of the River Alde and Ore. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS Heritage's Scottish Office is being kept busy with two very recent wins in the Outer Hebrides. Training in Orpheo audioguide software will allow these clients to deliver oral history and other content in English and Gaelic. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php ATS is proud to contribute to this project, a tour of the village which played host to and inspired the great poet, Robert Burns. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php HMS Victory, the flagship of Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar, has long been a challenge for accessible interpretation. ATS was chosen to produce a new filmed guided tour of the ship for those visitors unable to get around the decks. The HMS Victory audio-visual guide was filmed in High-Definition Format and visitors currently view it in a comfortable screening room. http://www.ats-heritage.co.uk/news.php