BrightSign Digital Signage Puts Fun into Learning for Visitors to UK’s Bristol Zoo Gardens

Advocate for Animal and Plant Protection Makes Conservation Come Alive with
Entertaining Video, Image and Text Displays.

BrightSign announced today that its digital sign players have been installed at Bristol Zoo Gardens located in Bristol, UK, to deliver dynamic messages about wildlife, conservation and upcoming events. Founded in 1836, Bristol Zoo is the fifth oldest zoo in the world and is recognised nationally for the conservation and education work it does.  The project’s integrator, Audionation-UK Ltd, recommended BrightSign HD110 controllers to drive the Zoo’s ten digital signs because they deliver high video and image quality, are exceptionally easy to use and affordably priced.

“Bristol Zoo wanted to replace their light boxes with digital displays that give visitors an entertaining zoo experience that makes their messages more memorable,” explained Andy Phillips, Technical Sales and Director at Audionation.  “They needed a reliable signage solution that their marketing and education departments could manage and update without requiring the assistance of an IT person or special training.  We’ve found that BrightSign controllers meet all these requirements, so we felt comfortable recommending them.”

As a registered charity, affordability–without sacrificing reliability or quality–was a key issue for the Zoo.  With its solid-state platform, the reliability of BrightSign media players is higher than PC-based solutions while pricing is significantly lower.  The HD110 also supports full HD at 1080p resolutions for pristine quality and includes
BrightAuthor software free of charge.  BrightAuthor is a PC application with intuitive templates and tools that make creating, updating, managing and monitoring digital signage displays so easy, anyone can do it.

“We’re working to protect the world’s environments, plants and animals,” said Simon Garrett, Head of Learning at Bristol Zoo.  “An important part of our work is to communicate with a wider audience in order to build awareness and engage more people in helping to save these vital assets.  Our new digital signage allows us to provide timely communications that are more entertaining than static displays, meaning the messages are more memorable.”

Bristol Zoo has already replaced 10 lightboxes with BrightSign-driven digital displays and will soon have 11.  It also plans to continue expanding the digital signage program.

Currently, the project includes six displays in the Aquarium promoting conservation awareness with video, images and text on topics such as “Saving Our Seas”, “Meet the Keeper” and a video alerting visitors to the link between seafood choices and marine conservation.  Two displays are also in the Zoo’s Bug World exhibit area and two additional displays are in the Zoo restaurant.

Bristol Zoo Gardens is an education and conservation charity and relies on the income from visitors to support its work. It is involved with more than 100 coordinated breeding programmes for threatened wildlife species. Bristol
Zoo Gardens supports – through finance and skill sharing – over 12 projects in the UK and abroad that conserve and protect some of the world’s most endangered species. It employs 140 full and part-time staff to care for the
animals and run a successful visitor attraction to support its conservation and education work. Bristol Zoo Gardens is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. BIAZA represents more than 90 member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums.

Throughout 2010 Bristol Zoo will be running a series of events to highlight the importance of conserving the world’s biodiversity, as part of the international Year of Biodiversity. For more information visit the Zoo website at   www.bristolzoo.org.uk/about/conservation/campaigns/iyob. To find out more about the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity visit the website at www.biodiversityislife.net.