Dueling Dinosaurs ‘Camera Interactive’
Touchscreen Kiosk and Live Video Processing Systems
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh, North Carolina
Dueling Dinosaurs
Camera Interactive
A first-of-its-kind digital experience bringing visitors face-to-face with the most significant dinosaur discovery in decades.
Watch the preparation of the Dueling Dinosaurs fossil!
The Dueling Dinosaurs is a 67-million-year-old Nanotyrannus and Triceratops locked in what appears to be combat. It represents one of the most complete and scientifically valuable fossil finds ever unearthed. Now housed at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, this specimen is being meticulously prepared by world-class paleontologists in a state-of-the-art lab.
Our interactive kiosk system transforms this painstaking scientific process into a captivating visitor experience, giving the public unprecedented access to watch paleontology happen live.
The Camera Interactive
MTR Magic Key built a complete end-to-end media ecosystem from the ground up custom-engineered to handle the unique demands of a high-traffic museum environment where reliability is non-negotiable and user experience must be intuitive for visitors of all ages.
The system seamlessly orchestrates four PTZ cameras, hardware video encoders, real-time content management, and automated media processing while maintaining broadcast-quality 4K streams to on-site kiosks and simultaneous 1080p delivery to YouTube for global audiences.
Technology Stack
Windows Touchscreen PCs
Sony SRG-XB25 (4K PTZ)
Matrox Maevex
Dell R750 Linux
Drupal JsonAPI
OpenCV / Python
Key Features
Four Sony PTZ cameras deliver crystal-clear 4K feeds to kiosks while simultaneously streaming 1080p to YouTube, ensuring both in-person visitors and a global online audience can witness the excavation live.
Purpose-built for the chaos of a busy museum floor. Automatic startup and recovery, idle timeout with attract loops, intuitive touch interface that works for kids and adults alike. All running maintenance-free in the SECU Dinolab.
Museum staff publish discoveries and fossil highlights directly to kiosks via a custom CMS. Visitors see the latest findings minutes after scientists document them.
Our pipeline captures frames every 20 minutes, processes them overnight with OpenCV, and publishes a fresh timelapse each morning; compressing weeks of delicate excavation work into compelling visual stories.
Client: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
