The Luskin Virtual Presence Kiosk

The Luskin Virtual Presence Kiosk at the Greenway Visitor Center. (Palomar/Caltech)

Our Luskin Virtual Presence Kiosk is a multimedia display area in the Greenway Visitor Center. The kiosk provides visitors with viewing facilities for live camera feeds from the Hale Telescope dome, as well as a rotating collection of topical short videos and slideshows. The kiosk design is focused on presenting these media to all observatory guests, but particularly aimed at serving mobility-impaired visitors. The Luskin Kiosk was made possible by a seed gift from the Luskin family to Palomar Observatory (from the kiosk information tab):

This video kiosk and content were enabled by a generous seed gift to the Observatory from Renee and Meyer Luskin. The Luskins are graduates of UCLA, and have been longtime friends and benefactors of the UCLA, Caltech, and Southern California educational communities. Their vision with this gift was to facilitate sharing the Palomar Observatory tradition with a broader range of Southern California residents, particularly those who find travel to the Observatory and the Hale Telescope dome difficult. Palomar Observatory and Caltech are deeply grateful for the Luskins’ gift, and for their abiding friendship with the Observatory and support for its research, education, and public outreach missions.