WebTouch Software enhances communications at Canada's national parks; software enables park staff to handle more visitors with fewer resources.LAFAYETTE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1996--In this age of downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing , everyone is forced to do more with less. In Canada's national parks This is a list of national parks ordered by nation. Africa
"A few years ago, touchscreen kiosks wouldn't have been as widely accepted, but today people have more of an ATM mentality -- they want access to information quickly and easily, and they don't have any objection to getting it from a machine," said Pierce Achtymichuk, technical services specialist for Canada's National Parks. "The kiosks also free up the park staff to deal with added responsibilities, more direct contact with park visitors and more in-depth requests for information." The Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks World Heritage District in Alberta, which had more than eight million visitors last year, currently maintains 28 information kiosks in four parks. "With WebTouch, we only have to design one document, then use it on either a Web site or a touchscreen display," Achtymichuk said. "WebTouch also enables us to update our system using several languages. We currently use English and French, but plan to add German and Japanese." WebTouch comes with complete HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. 3.2 compatibility and includes support for floating frames, style sheets, marquees and animated GIF A moving picture in GIF format, which is made up of a series of frames. When displayed, they provide an animated sequence that cycles over and over without stopping. Although popular on the Web, animated GIFs are larger than single-frame GIFs and take longer to download. files. The system supports Java, JavaScrript, VB Script See VBScript. and ActiveX controls, and allows features such as in-line video, sound, Director movies and direct database access. For Achtymichuk's staff , fast and easy access to databases not only improves communication with the user but improves safety as well. "If there is a bear sighting in a certain area of the park, WebTouch allows the tourist as well as the ranger to update the databases from any kiosk," he said. "With WebTouch we can update our databases 2,000 miles away if we want to." Given the success and positive user response to WebTouch, Achtymichuk said that one of his long-term goals Long-term goals Financial goals expected to be accomplished in five years or longer. is to see all the national parks throughout North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. connected through the language of HTML for consistency and WebTouch for user appeal. "TouchSource has been a star in our lives," said Achtymichuk. "Our primary communication tool is now WebTouch 2.1." Since 1988, Colorado-based TouchSource Inc. has specialized in the development of touchscreen-based kiosks. Clients range from Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics to the Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center. It is known for its collection of American Indian art, and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 55,000 works from across the world. to the National Park Service. CONTACT: TouchSource Inc. Mike Franklin, 303/604-6840 touchinfo@touchsource.com Metzger Associates Chad Morris, 303/786-7000 chad@metzger.com |
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