At the end of his stream CD-i member xsuicidesn0wmanx showed the 'Healthcare Advisor' CD-i player, which we investigated a few months back. "Here's a closer look at the new console I revealed at the end of my stream last night. It's a repurposed CD-i that was used in doctors offices. It still plays all the games and includes a digital video card. It's basically a 450 with a few minor modifications. Controller port moved to the back and a printer port was added. I didn't get any discs with it, just a 4 button game pad(like the gravis pad) and that's all. No idea what software was played on this, I assume it was probably just video on a loop. I believe this CD-i player was salvaged from the supplier who was supposed to destroy them."
This custom built CD-i player was one of a serie of 150 units that developer Independent Interactive bought from Philips Interactive Media of America, after they closed its business in 1995. Independent Interactive was active in several hospitals and believed in the potential to use these players in healthcare courses. To use a consumer CD-i player in a medical environment, the approbation needed to be done again and some design changes were needed. In this case the player shell was not suitable enough, it was not strong to withstand long travel conditions, but it was not dust-tight as well.
The openings were there for the thermal management. CEO Jim from Independent Interactive explains: "It was clear from the beginning we needed a custom-made player. As the interest in health courses was substantial, we ventured with Intercare who was a supplier of medical equipment. Intercare designed a metal close case for one of our players. At the time we bought a lot of 550 models, including video cartridge. This was the most compact model available and Philips had quite a stock left in their distribution centres.
Once we built an engine for course material we developed several trainings that ran on this software. This was done to keep the costs low. All training material was based on full motion video which was unique in that time." Together with Intercare, they developed the Healthcare Advisor, which is also the name of the software title. Jim: "One of our wishes was to lock the unit so we could leave it in the hospitals. We had around 150 of these units available, but not all of them were used in the end." This unit was also used in universities in studies about medicines.
It was resistent to vandalism thanks to the metal case and the fact that you could lock the unit. The power button on the right side is the only design part that is still visible of the original CD-i 550. The CD-i player could be locked: The top CD tray could be locked as well as the power button, which means you could leave the unit alone and no-one could take out the CD or power off the CD-i player.
[Thanks, xsuicidesn0wmanx and the Interactive Dreams archive]