A newly developed audio guide, TXP (Touring Exhibitions Player) will serve as an interface between the audience and the highly interactive environment of the upcoming ABBAWORLD exhibition that premieres in London the 27th of January. Having researched the market for audio guide systems, Touring Exhibitions, the company behind ABBAWORLD, decided to forgo the existing systems and develop their own audio guide, the TXP, from scratch.

"We needed a system that was lightweight, user friendly, easy to learn and easy to carry around, something which is very important considering the physical activities that are part of the overall experience at ABBAWORLD," says senior director of production, Mats Daleskog. "It's a really cool gadget, more akin to game controllers and mp3 players, and much more in line with what our audience has come to expect from modern personal audio technology."

According to the president of Touring Exhibitions, Magnus Danielsson, the TXP fills a great void in the market of audio guide systems. "The TXP is not only an essential feature of ABBAWORLD, it is a product that will benefit any exhibition out there due to its unique features. The market response has been great since we first presented the TXP, and this is a business area we will develop worldwide. We will continue to cooperate with our suppliers to develop the TXP further and the fact that we went from concept to prototypes and finally to the finished product in just four months makes me feel not only proud but also very confident about the future for the TXP."

The TXP is based on RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) technology that makes it possible for the user to interact with different objects through radio transmitters in the exhibition rooms. "All the user has to do is to set the volume and point the TXP at the object he or she wants to know more about, and the information will start playing automatically," Daleskog continues. "We wanted to make the technology as user-friendly as possible to minimize any distractions from the exhibits and features."

The TXP can store 20 hours worth of information, it is multilingual and the rechargeable battery has a capacity of 10 hours. The TXP only has three buttons of which two are for setting the volume. Charging the batteries and downloading software and content is done through a single connection at the bottom of the device, and the same connection is used for plugging in the Sony headphones that come with the TXP. When fully developed, the next generation of the TXP will support auto triggering, lip sync, hearing devices, an anti-theft alarm as well as other features.

The TXP can be experienced at the upcoming premiere of ABBAWORLD for which Swedish star actor Stellan Skarsgård, who starred in Mamma Mia! and many other blockbuster movies, has lent his voice to the audio guide, talking the visitor through the whole career of ABBA and the 25 rooms of this exhilarating exhibition. ABBAWORLD will open its doors for the very first time in the heart of London for a limited run, at the Museum Hall, Earls Court, on 27 January 2010. Tickets are available from www.livenation.co.uk and are priced at £22.00 / £19.50 (subject to booking fee).