Imperial Multimedia is a developer of interactive kiosks based in

Baraboo Baraboo is a city in the Midwest and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The largest city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. It is sit ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States, The company was established by Fred Lochner in 1999. One of the main goals and initiatives of Imperial Multimedia is to get children into the outdoors and to arm them with information that will take away "the fear of the unknown".

History of Imperial Multimedia

The company was founded in 1999 by Fred Lochner, in Baraboo, Wisconsin In 2005, Imperial Multimedia took on a kiosk project in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

. The New Bohemia Solar Project is a collaboration between

Iowa DNR The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR or IA DNR) is a department/agency of the U.S. state of Iowa formed in 1986, charged with maintaining state parks and forests, protecting the environment of Iowa, and managing energy, fish, wil ...

, I-Renew,

Alliant Energy Alliant Energy is a public utility holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, providing power in Iowa and Wisconsin. History Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL) expanded greatly in the late 1920s to include operations in Iowa, ...

, Thorland Company, and the City of Cedar Rapids, with funding provided by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

. The purpose of this project was not only to provide 7200 watts of solar energy for Cedar Rapids' existing grid, but also to raise awareness and educate the public about the existence and benefits of

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an ...

. In 2006 Imperial Multimedia created an idea of getting people more information about a place they are visiting with the use of technology. In 2007, this idea came to fruition as Imperial Multimedia became the first company to install a state-wide system of electronic Information Stations in state parks. The

interactive kiosk An interactive kiosk is a computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, or education. By 2010, the largest bill pay kiosk network ...

s were installed in 31 of Virginia's State Parks. These Information Stations include a variety of information such as video tours of trails, printable maps, emergency information, park information and interpretive information. In 2009, Imperial Multimedia developed a kiosk in northern Wisconsin in part of the

Chequamegon National Forest Chequamegon Bay ( ) is an inlet of Lake Superior in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the extreme northern part of Wisconsin. History A Native American village, known as ''Chequamegon'', developed here in the mid-17th century. It was developed b ...

that educated people about the local elk population. The electronic information kiosk was created to fit into an existing sign board. The electronic kiosk has in-depth information about elk and the surrounding wildlife. In the beginning of 2010, Imperial Multimedia became a founding partner for the

America's State Parks America's State Parks is a strategic alliance formed in 2010 of all 50 state park systems, the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). America's State Parks is committed to giving a unified voice to all of the country's state park ...

Alliance. The Alliance expresses advocacy for getting out in nature and making sure that state park visitor's voices are heard.

References

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External links

Imperial Multimedia
Baraboo, Wisconsin Companies based in Wisconsin Mass media companies established in 1999 Kiosks 1999 establishments in Wisconsin