InfoCenter Mobile
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InfoCenter Mobile vendor image. | |
| Creator | Nelson Jenkins |
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| Launch year | 2008 |
| Company | Gentek Technologies |
| Availability | Marketplace & In-World |
| User Manual | |
The InfoCenter was originally an electronic road sign created in 2008. It was the only customizable electronic sign on the grid; however, it suffered from some design flaws that limited its usefulness prior to the update.
InfoCenter Mobile
The original InfoCenter Mobile (simply the InfoCenter at the time) featured a similar display and control system. However, the font was badly-aligned in the texture, forcing the display prims to be rotated to hide occasional texture bleeding on the bottom of each prim. Additionally, glow was far overused, to the point of it becoming a running joke (although not necessarily a meme). The original arrow and warn patterns also used a lazy hack - instead of using a texture animation, it simply used block text characters in a certain pattern.
For the update, the body was mostly replaced with a SOM sculptie to lower the prim count. Because of this, some extra characters could be added on the display. The display was modified so it could be flipped down, and the arrow and warn patterns used a texture animation overlay instead of the hack. The frame was also recolorable. The controller was rescripted to make it more robust.
InfoCenter Highway
The InfoCenter Highway was an in-house prototype used occasionally in roleplay sims where Nelson helped out (namely, Hidden Creek and City of Concord's Lumin Parkway). It was an electronic highway sign sporting many more characters over the Mobile, designed to be mounted on an overpass or gantry. It was scripted to handle messages sent from a central control box, which could coordinate messages among several signs simultaneously. However, it was poorly designed, and was never sold.
InfoCenter Matrix
The InfoCenter Matrix was another in-house prototype based off of square RGB matrix signs commonly seen in European countries. These signs could display standard road signs as an image, although could not display text. They are used typically for variable speed limits dependent on congestion or construction. In the US, similar signs are sometimes used for lane and turn control, although they are usually fiber-optic signs that can only display one or two possible outputs. An early prototype was used in Mascouten II around the Lumin Tunnel to restrict turns when the tunnel was closed. The sign was briefly rebuilt but never made it past conceptual stage.
Future Updates
The InfoCenter is a low-priority update. However, any future updates will most likely be done using mesh for lower prim counts. The Highway and Matrix versions, if released, will most likely also be in mesh.
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