Philips CD-i was such a broad medium offering much more than games and video: Let's have look at the virtual musea that are available on CD-i. These reference disc offer a unique view in high valued museums over the world and they bring the history and culture in your livingroom. These type of discs always have my interest because we can learn so much by it. The top one for me is "Journeys through Victorian London" - A beautifully journey through the expositions of the Museum of London, released in 1998 on CD-i (One of the final CD-i reference discs).
Victorian London, the most exciting period in London’s history, a period when it became the scientific, cultural and commercial centre of an empire of 400 million people. You can interactively travel through 19th century London and eavesdrop on eminent Victorians describing their city. Victorian London was documented by its inhabitants and visitors in novels, letters, magazines, paintings, engravings and for the first time in history, through photography, film and audio recordings, much of which is to be found in the remarkable collection of the Museum of London and now on disc.
Dive into the world of the United East Indian Company, the VOC, The famous Flying Dutchman helps. Visit places such as Batavia and the Cape of Good Hope or take a look aboard an Eastern Passenger. Lead a salvage operation under water with interesting finds on the seabed. Experience an important part of the collection of the Musuem Prins Hendrik in Rotterdam during this adventurous tour.
A beautiful disc with optional digital video content about the tragic history of Pompei:
Forbidden City, by the Museum of Beijing:
- The only electronic multimedia publication on the Forbidden City endorsed by the Palace Museum of Beijing.
- Accurate and detailed contents carefully and critically reviwed by experts from the Palace Museum.
- Oncorporating the latest digital video technology.
- First time access to many precious treasures of the Palace.
- Enter parts of the museum not usually accessible to visitors.
- Over 90 minutes of breathtaking audioi-visual sequences that bring the art and history of each item to life.
- Each sequence is elaborately designed, with lively presentation, colourful pictures and animated drawings for interaction with the viewer.
- Over 800 quality photographs, many of wich have not been previously published.
In the wake of Captain Cook: (With the voice of Sir Peter Ustinov)
As you can see by the 'V' logo, many encoding was done by Valkieser, a dutch company. We contacted a few ex-employees to give you more insight about these encoding processes and how Valkieser contributed to the varied catalogue on CD-i.
[Thanks, Alan, catawiki, theworldofcdi]