Application Stories

AMLABEL Digital Gallery Display Replaces Gallery Cards

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AMLABEL Digital Gallery Display

The AMLABEL Digital Gallery Display in USA is an editable, real-time in-gallery digital label developed on electronic paper to replace existing gallery cards.

The AMLABEL Digital Gallery Display is the digital replacement to existing paper gallery cards, it runs on electronic paper display technology powered by Visionect, and has been built by museums, specifically for museums.

Through the use of existing Wi-Fi networks and a customized CMS platform designed from the ground up, AMLABEL Digital Gallery Display allows museums to manage and display gallery and exhibition object content in real-time, without the cost of printing paper labels. This is a significant concern: Of a group of museums recently surveyed, 66% print 200 plus labels per year; 33% exceed 500 plus labels per year. All report an average cost of $70-$100 per label.

With a screen that adapts to the ambient light of its surroundings and an energy consumption 99% lower than traditional LCD screens, the AMLABEL is completely cordless,with little to no effect on the integrity of the gallery space. In addition, AMLABEL’s interactive touchscreen allows for complete language and font customization.

The importance of the AMLABEL Digital Gallery Display has not been lost on the industry. The museum label has just received the 2016 Thought-Leadership Award for its use of green technology and peer development.

Go Visionect, ePaper and Digital Gallery Displays

Go AMLABEL Digital Gallery Displays

AV Stumpfl Resurrects Norway’s Olympic Highlights

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Panorama by Jørgen Damskau

The Norwegian Olympic Museum in Lillehammer (opened by H.M Queen of Norway in early 2016) is a showcase filled with adventurous video installations, curated exhibits of cultural and historic artefacts and Olympic memorabilia. It’s worth a look at the video listed at bottom of this article.

The Museum centerpiece is a large-scale circular raised-platform interactive model measuring 3.5 meters in diameter, representing the Olympic “jump hills” or Lysgaardsbakkene.

Local systems integrator Bright Norway (thank them for the photos you see here) achieved a true-to-life interactive presentation using AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Raw uncompressed 4K media servers and Wings VIOSO calibration software to manage and warp native video content across 4 edge-blended projectors.

Wings Engine Raw

Bright Norway was also responsible for multimedia and presentation equipment for large-scale video projections throughout the Museum. All multimedia content was created by Centre Screen, London and all exhibit areas designed by Mather & Co.

“Lysgaardsbakkene is the centre piece that visitors experience as they move through to the core of the Museum,” says Børre Linberg, Head of Installations at Bright Norway. “It was a challenging space to programme because first and foremost it’s a functional space and a unusual circular shape with two giant jump hills that descend from the ceiling. Visitors usually spend considerable time watching the video elements during their visit.”

Elsewhere in the Museum, a large-scale 5.5-meter wide by 1.5 meter high AV wall display shows 2D animations of the Ancient Games.

opening ceremonies

And a 6.8-meter wide by 1.5 meter high panoramic wall celebrates the opening ceremonies, and one of the celebrated showcases from the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the spectacular Inside the Race, is projected onto a curved wall surface measuring 14.5-meters wide by 2.7 meters high.

Wings VIOSO software was used to blend and align all projectors.

Watch the Video that Shows the AV Installations in the Norwegian Olympic Museum

Go avstumpfl

UN Award for Anti-Bullying Project with Visionect Signage

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Visionect   and PARE360

No one likes a bully. In cooperation with the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society, The World Summit Award for Inclusion and Empowerment goes to Community HUB in Mexico.

Developed on Visionect epaper technology, the Community HUB integrates cognitive computing with an electronic paper touchscreen in a solar-powered kiosk installed in schools, allowing students to report violence anonymously and safely.

According to the American Psychological Association, 40% to 80% of all school-age children will experience abusive behavior from their peers at some point during their school careers.

There's a pattern of extreme violence in Mexican schools. As much as 44% of the country’s students have been victims of violent incidents and 25% reported to have been threatened. That same year the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranked Mexico number one when it came to cases of abusive behavior in middle schools.

Visionect Safety In Signage

So this interactive signage project has worldwide relevance, and the UN award signifies that other communities with school bullying have a technology model that can help.

The Community HUB by PARE360 allows students to report violence anonymously and safely, by answering a few simple questions on a robust and easy-to-read Visionect epaper screen.

“Community HUB is, for all intents and purposes, a black box of violence prevention,” explains Alfonso Flores, the founder of PARE360 and the force behind the concept. “The system has been developed from scratch to detect risk factors among youth and develop policies to prevent and combat school violence through reporting and community engagement.”

The report generated by the Community HUB is transmitted in real time to the school director for immediate action, as well as to a mapping software. This allows for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data gathered, assessing the safety of a school and shaping preventative policies, as well as enabling a deeper understanding of a child’s needs and values.

Strengthening the social inclusion of individuals, the reporting and alerting system was hailed as unique “because it mixes psychological factors with technological innovation and community participation that perfectly integrate the protective and predictive factors against crime.”

As electronic paper becomes ever more present in everyday life, Visionect says the Community HUB marks just the beginning of socially-conscious projects that can be made possible by epaper technology, from wayfinding to alert systems and real-time notification screens installable everywhere.

Let's call it "safety signage." Visionect's power-saving technology shows that digital signage isn't always about commercials and branding.

Go UN Award for Anti-Bullying Project with Visionect Signage

Virgin Media Builds Boats for Bolt

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VirginMedia at LondonEye

Virgin Media celebrates Usain Bolt’s 9.58 second world record with a 9:58pm spectacle on London’s River Thames-- inmcluding a 100m-long, floating flat screen to showcase Bolt’s world-beating 100m time.

Kerris Bright, CMO at Virgin Media says: “Virgin Media has been at the forefront of bringing faster broadband speeds to Britain for the past ten years. By bringing our ambassador, Usain Bolt, to the centre of London we wanted to help celebrate a summer of sport, mark what is going to be a landmark year for Usain and demonstrate what it’s like to ‘be the fastest’.”

Virgin Media’s Vivid 200 broadband offers the UK’s fastest widely available broadband (download speeds of up to 200Mbps) so their association with the world’s fastest man makes perfect sense. They are expanding this through a £3bn programme, Project Lightning, which will reach 17 million UK premises by the end of 2019.

After a Grade 1 tear in his hamstring, Usain Bolt hopes to show fitness at the London Anniversary Games on July 22 to earn selection for the Olympic Games in Rio. To mark exactly one month until he arrived in Rio de Janeiro to defend his world record title, Virgin Media created an ambitious installation bringing symbolizing Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt to the River Thames.

Virgin Media Boat Screen

In a celebration of Bolt’s 9.58 second 100m world record, at 9.58pm the river in front of the London Eye was transformed into a 100m-long video screen, while the Eye itself became a giant stopwatch counting down Bolt’s time. Viewers within the London Eye were able to witness Bolt’s record-breaking speed, thanks to a 100m-long, floating screen stationed on the river beneath.

The screen itself is the longest of its kind ever constructed, comprising 108 floating pontoon decks topped by 600m2 of horizontal LED screen. It was built at King George V Dock in Newham, taking more than 1000 man hours to build and four hours to sail to Victoria Embankment.

The 3-minute film centres on the concept of speed and the fastest man of all time, Usain Bolt, ahead of a pivotal season in Bolt’s career. Speed unlocks the difference that Virgin Media provides, and for Bolt, speed defines him. It is voiced over by fellow sprinter, Michael Johnson, who made a documentary with Usain Bolt in 2010.

The film lifts the lid on the real Bolt. It shows the ‘overwhelming rush of hurt’ he describes when talking about his grueling training schedule, the impact his achievements have had on his country and adoring fans, his perceived “superhero” status, and the Jamaican dancehall culture he is still a part of. The film even provides a real-time dramatisation of the historic 9.58 second record breaking run, mimicking the distance and speed he ran it at, across Jamaican locations he grew up at as a boy.

As well as showcasing the six-time champion’s world-beating run, the screen showcased never-seen-before footage of Bolt shot by Virgin Media in his native Jamaica earlier this year before the athlete went into lockdown on his training. The content brings to life the feeling of speed and how Bolt’s career has been shaped by the Caribbean influences which surrounded him growing up. 

Go VirginMedia Boats for Bolt

Go Check out the Virgin Media commercial, “Be the Fastest”, with Usain Bolt

Go OK, We Really Prefer the Nissan Commercial: Bolt vs Fire

Polymedia Drives Formula 1 in Baku

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Baku Maiden’s Tower

Formula 1 Grand Prix Europe took place in June 2016 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Polymedia served as the visualization contractor for Eurodesign, the general contractor for electronic provision (from public address to security systems) at Baku City Circuit.

Formula 1 has become the most exciting international event in Baku city life, and for both of the companies was one of the most challenging and complex projects - that’s why all the audiovisual preparation had begun almost a year ago.

Huge LED screens polyLED were installed in spectator and entertainment areas throughout the entire 6-km route of the race. The total area of all the video panels was more than 500 square meters and the biggest screen reached 45 sqm.

Elena Novikova and Rufat Mamedov

Screens and mounting constructions had been specially designed for the event. Polymedia specialists and engineers were able to comply with all requirements for the project, even the most difficult ones to perform: easy mobile installation, strength, safe design and small installations area at the same time.

Weather conditions such as strong winds and baking sun were the most challenging aspect of the installation. Wind-resistant and anti-vandal screens on the DIP-diodes with a pixel of 10 mm perfectly suited to withstand Baku’s harsh sun. Each screen was connected to the control system, which allowed the operator to track operability of the screens at any time.

POLYLED Screens

“We repeatedly checked all the equipment before the start of the show. All the equipment for the racing electronics, including LED, has been specifically assembled for the test operation on a scale of 1:1. The project was a success largely due to the coordinated work of our professionals, Eurodesign team and also to the detailed preliminary design”, says Elena Novikova, CEO at Polymedia. [Shown in photo with Rufat Mamedov.]

“Polymedia was in charge of a full range of works – manufacturing quality control, supply, installation, commissioning and configuration of audio-visual equipment, and even technical support provision during the event. Nowadays it is difficult to find a company that can perform such a complex AV project. We are pleased that Baku has an audiovisual system integrator of such professional level, and look forward to working on new and interesting projects together. On behalf of our company, I thank the whole team that worked on the "Formula 1" project for the professional work! " comments Rovshan Ahmadov, Technology Director at Eurodesign in Azerbaijan.

Go Eurodesign

Go Polymedia

What’s Running Europe’s Ice Hockey Stadiums?

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Ice Palace St. Petersburg

Score! The International Ice Hockey Federation (the pro hockey sports body) has published annual attendance figures for European hockey leagues during the 2015/2016 season-- and 9 Colosseo venues placed in the ranking. And 4 of them in the top 20.

ColosseoEAS (based in Bratislava, Slovakia) specializes in LED design, multimedia and statistics solutions for sport venues. Their integrated system approach allows stadium and arena owners to input all data from any source into one platform.

Their solution automates tasks, reduces redundant operations and distributes native information to a variety of devices like LED screens, IPTVs, advertising fasciae, mobile applications and even wearable devices. Colosseo combines the latest LED lighting technologies with sports, advertising and stadium entertainment.

For one example of the Colosseo reputation, Brian Ballard (CEO at APX Labs, USA) talked about the Colosseo installation at the Verizon Center in America, “Colosseo is the most feature rich, open, and complete content distribution system we've seen to date. Its deployment at the Verizon Center enabled us to efficiently integrate our Skybox platform for Google Glass with live content and give fans a whole new level of engagement. It really is a professional grade system with fantastic support.”

Biometric

The Colosseo claim to fame is their status as only company in the world to have implemented four, real-time biometric facial recognition systems to enhance stadium security (Slovnaft Arena in Bratislava, Spis Arena in Slovakia, Krakow Arena in Poland and Petrovsky Stadium in Russia). And the significant point here is how ColosseoEAS recognized early on that security can be intrinsicly linked to digital signage: after all, in most sports defense is equally important to offense.

The most successful Colosseo venue (ranked 4th) is the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg [shown above in photo], a home venue for the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg, equipped with the Colosseo Biometric Face Recognition System and Single Media Platform to cater to an average 11,789 fans per game.

The next Colosseo venue on the IIHF list was O. Nepelu Stadium in Slovak Republic-- Colosseo’s signature venue with an average of 8819 visitors per game (ranked 12th).

The next two Colosseo venues in the rankings are in the Czech Republic – Kometa Brno at DRFG Arena (14th) and Sparta Prague (18th) in O2 Arena, followed by another two teams from Switzerland – Lausanne HC (25th) playing at Espace Malley Arena and Geneve Servette (26th) at Patinoire des Vernets.

The success of the Slovakian team HC Slovan playing at O. Nepela Stadium has helped Colosseo’s reputation just as Colosseo significantly contributes to its safety via a biometric access control system. Their technology increased stadium safety (as well as improving infotainment and fan engagement) and that inspires more fans to attend regularly to support their home club.

It proves the point: in hockey arenas, security is important to everyone who gives a puck.

Go ColosseoEAS


World's Largest Stationary Projection Diorama

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World's Largest Stationary Projection Diorama

Boris Yeltsin

The life of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, the first President of the Russian Federation, is celebrated by the opening of The Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Ekaterinburg—with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev taking part in the opening ceremony

More than 30,000 exhibits and 13,000 photos are on display (and a lot of AV equipment) went into this $76 million project that started in 2011.

Since 2012, AV systems integrator AudioVideoSystems LLC has been designing the Multimedia section of the project.

The project for equipping Yeltsin Centre became not just a part of their daily business, but a world-class challenge with an unprecedented level of technical complexity of the project.

Together with Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center representatives and project team members, AudioVideoSystems experts designed a package of technical documentation. They demonstrated the solution for media screen using projectors of different manufacturers right on the site. In addition to the meetings and consultations there were organized business trips to Japan and China.

Yeltsin Center2

Yeltsin Center project includes a number of subject areas, with each area distinguished not only by functional, but also by aesthetic characteristics and technical requirements.

AudioVideoSystems installed the technical equipment for the “Atrium” and the “Temporary Exhibitions Gallery.”

In the Atrium, they installed the world's largest stationary projection diorama—created by 30 crosslinked projectors producing an image on a curved surface 61.2 meters long and 9.7 meters high. The video is accompanied by sound: L-acoustics loud sound system is used during events, Bose speakers broadcast background music and voice announcements on floors 1-3.

Video projection is made from 6 points by groups of 5 Panasonic projectors fitted at the second floor. Background sound system is intended for playback of audio tracks to the video demonstrated at the screen and also for music broadcasting and voice announcements while the screen isn’t used. The speakers’ volume is adjusted separately for each floor. Amplifiers allow to use the system during performance taking place on the mobile stage. The system is built on Bose acoustics.

Video surveillance system in the Atrium is built on special Panasonic cameras. Installed software enables the operator to use many functions managing cameras and processing the resulting video.

Sound amplifying equipment is installed behind the screen. Sound amplifiers and 6 groups of L-Acoustics speakers are evenly placed along the wall. 12 speakers from the same manufacturer are installed under the screen.

For the purposes of event organizers a mobile stage can be mounted. The stage consists of aluminum catwalks. The stage is equipped with concert sound, light and control systems from leading manufacturers: Yamaha, L'Acoustics, Martin.

The switching system is based on professional equipment. All connecting points for sound and light equipment on the mobile stage can be completely dismantled and stored in special cases, thus preserving the aesthetics of the interior.

Go AudioVideoSystems LLC

Go Opening of The Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center


Wavetec: Latin America Puts Stock in Displays

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Mexico Stock Exchange

Wavetec completes the largest installation at Mexico Stock Exchange. Combined in total, 150 m² of ultra-bright LED display was installed-- using 4mm and 10mm pitch.

Wavetec steered the project to install a 40 meter long LED Ticker on the front of Mexico Stock Exchange’s building. Thomson Reuters, sponsored the project and provided support to renovate the displays at the Exchange.

Based in Dubai, Wavetec has successfully managed successful projects, screens installations and system integrations in more than 25 stock exchanges in Spain, Chile, Peru, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Dubai, Nigeria and Kenya. It provides financial market displays that enable real-time information dissemination to financial institutions.

Mexico Stock Exchange Display

During the first phase of the project, Wavetec installed an 8 m² screen in the “authorities balcony” and a full color, 360° curve indoor LED Display with a resolution of more than 3 million pixels, reaching 54 meters around the perimeter of the stock exchange’s trading floor.

In the second phase, a 40 meters curved LED Ticker covering the front of Mexico Stock Exchange's symbolic building was installed. This state of the art display technology ensures outstanding brightness and durability throughout the years. Both the indoor and outdoor displays ensure high brightness even when exposed to bright sunlight or outdoor harsh climatic conditions.

Donatello Suite, Wavetec’s turnkey enterprise level software is also integrated at Mexico Stock Exchange offering advanced tools for canvas design, and data and content management (for example, changing stock prices on the fly. The system also offers performance monitoring and reporting features.

Go Wavetec at the Mexico Stock Exchange


Christie & Barneys Create a Chillin’ Consumer Experience

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Winter Brilliance

We don’t usually cover any case studies outside of EMEA, but when it is this “cool” we have to call it to your attention.

Christie once again is partnering with the famous U.S. retailer Barneys to create a one-of-a-kind holiday window display on New York City’s glamorous Madison Avenue.

Barneys are visionaries in designing retail experience for today’s savvy consumer, using technology and creativity to enrich their brand in the age of bricks vs clicks.

This Christmas season NYC retailer used Christie’s digital lighting effects to map to a special-ordered Dale Chihuly glass sculpture entitled Winter Brilliance. Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art and his work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide.

Winter Brilliance combines several star-like chandeliers and towers within a darkened window space, giving the impression of ice crystals frozen midair. It marks the first time Chihuly has used 3D digital mapping and choreographed lighting to illuminate an installation.

At Barney’s, this choreographed projection of light creates the illusion of ice, snow, and moonlight, adding a fluid and kinetic quality to the sculpture.

The lighting cycle starts with pure white before moving into a sequence of snow flurries, ending in fiery display of red and yellow light projected onto the 700 hand-blown glass “icicle” elements. The scene is an interpretation of fire and ice, relating to the heating and cooling of the glass making process. The choreographed projection is accompanied by a modern adaptation of a score by Claude Debussy, one of Chihuly’s favorite composers.

Making Winter Brilliance

Christie is also present in a second holiday window display at Barneys, Arctic Chase, created in partnership with Lexus, that features penguins perched atop miniature cars navigating a winding winter road. An animated short film by Invisible Light Network entitled Stay Cool is shown on a video wall composed of 2X4 Christie FHD461-X flat panels.

A third window display features slowly evolving ice castles, while a fourth display treats pedestrians to live ice carving demonstrations. Altogether, the windows produce an immersive visual narrative that engages pedestrians in a dramatic way, creates conversation, and leads them into the store.

The holiday windows will be on view at Barneys New York flagship store through January 3, 2016.

Dennis Freedman, creative director, Barneys New York, notes “In addition to their high-performance technologies, Christie brought a lot value and expertise from the conceptual and creative perspective, and it has worked out to be an incredible collaboration. To watch how they work to create the content and the effects was extraordinary.”

“Projection mapping upon 700 pieces of hand-blown glass has never been done before and is very difficult to replicate. It’s an enormously creative and technical accomplishment, and is the kind of successful ‘art-meets-retail experience’ that we’ll see emerging all over the world in the next few years,” explains Sean James, VP, Christie Global Professional Services.

Through its Christie THREE SIXTY unit, Christie provides best-of-class experience design, content creation and content management solutions for next-generation digital media installations.

This Christie THREE SIXTY team developed digital 3D lighting experience concepts and content for Chihuly to review and approve. This was all new technology for Chihuly and his team and Christie reports he was both surprised and happy with the results.

Go Christie Digital Systems

Watch the “Winter Brilliance” Video