A system and method for the storage, retrieval, and display of information enhances the viewing experience of visitors to marine aquariums. The system includes one or more viewing stations in which the visitor can select a specimen in the aquarium by indicating its position by a cursor on a video display, or by a three-dimensional mouse-laser pointer combination. The system then optically scans the indicated location, and compares the video image to a database of information stored within a computer network to which each viewing station is connected. A number of different graphic identification techniques are used to compare the scanned image to the data within the database, including bulk size-shape filtering, color filtering, and pattern analysis. Once the specimen has been identified, the database provides name, habitat, size, habits, diet, history, and other such demographic information to a various output devices at the viewing station, including text and graphic outputs to visual displays, audio outputs, and hard-copy output devices such as printers. The textual outputs are translated into different languages automatically by computer program methods, in the form of both text and sounds.
