Bell Atlantic Video Designs Interactive Tour for Visitors to Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Bell Atlantic Video Designs Interactive Tour
for Visitors to Ronald Reagan Building and
International Trade Center

Touch-Screen Kiosks Provide Sights, Sounds and
Even Postcards
From Nation's Capital's Diverse Neighborhoods

May 7, 1999

RESTON, Va. -- Visitors to the new Ronald Reagan Building and
International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. need look no further than
their fingertips for the quintessential tour of the nation's capital.

In conjunction with today's opening of the building's new Visitor
Information Center by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, Bell Atlantic -
Washington and Bell Atlantic Video will unveil four interactive kiosks
that provide information every visitor needs.

(See today's related press release from Bell Atlantic - Washington.)

Created to excite and motivate visitors to see more of the city, three of the
multimedia kiosks offer video and photos, as well as recorded audio and
text information. Visitors access the information, which includes names
and locations of restaurants, museums and other attractions, maps, and
overviews of city neighborhoods, using touch-screens that are connected
to the Internet.

One feature that's sure to be popular with the public allows visitors to be
photographed, insert their image onto a computer generated postcard and
e-mail it to friends.

This touch-screen kiosk project was designed and created by Bell Atlantic
Video's New Media group at the request of the D.C. Chamber of
Commerce and Bell Atlantic - Washington. Bell Atlantic Video's in-
house animators, programmers and database engineers worked with the
project sponsors, architects, content providers, and hardware and software
vendors. With all-digital video, state-of-the-art touch-screen technology
from MicroTouch, and high-speed connectivity to the Internet (through an
ultra-fast phone circuit), the kiosks provide rapid access to information,
remote refreshing and modification capabilities, and e-mail access.

"Bell Atlantic Video displayed a remarkable ability to anticipate the
needs of visitors to the center and design an enticing, user-friendly
interface to provide tourist information quickly and creatively," said
Marie Johns president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - Washington and
president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.

Bell Atlantic Video also designed a fourth kiosk for the project that offers
a Web interface to five Washington-related Web sites that are displayed
on a large-screen monitor.

The New Media division of Bell Atlantic Video provides digital
communications solutions for businesses through an experienced staff of
new media designers and digital engineers. The team provides end-to-end
solutions for such business applications as Web sites, kiosks, digital
learning systems and archival content management systems, and services
such as content acquisition, digital encoding and graphic design.

Located in Reston, Va., Bell Atlantic Video is a subsidiary of Bell
Atlantic. The unit markets and delivers to consumers a satellite-based
entertainment alternative to cable television. It also develops and delivers
to businesses new media services that strengthen communications and
increase productivity.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 43 million telephone access lines and nine
million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are
premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.