Breaking News at The Royal Observatory

Breaking News uses live newsfeeds from the European Space Agency to deliver information about the latest astronomical events around the universe.

The exhibit features a stunning 3D interface that gives you fingertip access to information about space exploration, rocket launches, celestial observations and more. At the touch of a button news headlines fly across the screen, spinning into view and unfolding to reveal the full article.

HMC Interactive used cutting edge 3D programming techniques to achieve crisp and easy-to read text at varied sizes. The experimental interface creates a galaxy of text that flies towards the screen. To read an article you simply need to press a headline and the full text will fly into view.

Updated live with RSS

News articles are pulled into the kiosk using RSS feeds. The latest headlines are visible as soon as they are published, thanks to the numerous feeds available from the European Space Agency’s website.

The interface was created to be simple yet exciting to use. As news items fly towards you, you can pluck them out of midair, or choose to scroll through them in date order. The end result is a robustly crafted piece of software that engages users of all ages and abilities.

Design & production: Newangle Software programming: HMC Interactive