6.27.2000 ET

(CSRwire) Intel Corporation and the Science Museum in London will celebrate the realization of an ambitious collaboration to develop the world's leading center for contemporary science when Her Majesty The Queen opens the new £50 million Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum in London today.

In the largest individual corporate contribution ever made to a single gallery in the museum, Intel has committed £1.5 million to sponsor the Digitopolis Gallery. The state-of-the-art gallery will allow visitors to experience the vast breadth of ways in which digital technology serves us every day. In a unique experience, digital technology today and the possibilities of the digital future will be demonstrated using creative and interactive exhibits around the themes of the digital being, digital vision, digital sound and networking people.

Intel has also provided a substantial amount of Intel® hardware, including processors, motherboards and networking products, to allow the museum to build a sophisticated computing infrastructure within Digitopolis, thus enabling the Internet to play a central part of the gallery's interactive exhibits and creating a unique environment for visitors. In addition, Intel and the Science Museum collaborated to expand visitors learning experience by developing a 3-D Web site for the Wellcome Wing.

The Wellcome Wing, which will be the world's leading center for the public presentation of contemporary science, is the museum's most ambitious project in its 150 year history. The Wellcome Wing took 10 years to develop, covers 10,000m2, and will further enhance the Science Museum's reputation for innovative and interactive exhibits in science and technology.

Dennis Carter, vice president and director of Strategic Marketing at Intel comments, "Intel is excited by the opportunity to collaborate with the Science Museum in London on this innovative new education program. The Digitopolis Gallery will enable us to bring to life people's fascination with technology -- from the very early days of technology development through the invention of integrated circuits, the microprocessor and on to the future mass market adoption of the Internet."

The Wellcome Wing on the Web
Intel's collaboration with the Science Museum in London has also extended to the creation of a Web site for the Wellcome Wing (www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wellcome-wing/splash_ie.html), which went live in March 2000. The site features a 3-D fly-through of the Wellcome Wing with a Web environment designed to reflect the forward looking views of the Science Museum in London and its vision of integrating Internet technology in to the museum experience. The Web site supports Intel's vision to make the Internet into a new medium for exciting educational content, and a tool to enhance and expand the traditional museum experience. An extended Web site will be launched in July 2000, with additional elements designed to mirror the interactivity of the Wellcome Wing and further inspire and educate science and technology enthusiasts around the world.

The Digitopolis Gallery
From the invention of the microprocessor to the mass market adoption of the Internet and beyond, Digitopolis will introduce the basics of digital technologies and how they will transform everybody's lives. This ranges from production and the visual arts, to the music business both on and off the Internet. The Digitopolis gallery, located on the second floor of the Wellcome Wing is laid out to resemble coded digital circuits and the computing infrastructure within the gallery is powered by Intel® architecture. Visitors will experience an interactive introduction that explains how digital technology is changing the world of sound, vision and communications through four main themes: Being Digital, Digital Visions, Sounds Digital and Networking People.

Being Digital: Looks at digital basics and will answer questions such as "What makes digital technology special?" and "How does it work?" The computer used by Tim Berners-Lee to design the World Wide Web will be on display.

Digital Visions: Digital Visions will look at how the technology used to create computer games and virtual worlds is a powerful tool for exploration in surgery design and art. Digital Visions includes fascinations such as the virtual model of a skull used in surgically rebuilding a teenager's face.

Sounds Digital: Visitors can try out cutting-edge digital sound technology for voice manipulation and music composition, as well as seeing how musicians are using digital technology to create new worlds of sound.

Networking People: Here visitors can explore new methods of fast, fun digital communication by creating a web page and using it to keep a unique record of the visit. By networking to many of the Wellcome Wing exhibits, visitors can store images and sounds to enhance the experience.


Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.