Living information
Grabbing attention, providing information and user interaction: These, and more besides, are the benefits of audiovisual installations in well thought-out and innovative applications.
Media technology is indispensable for trade fairs and events. They influence the visitors perceptions. After all, where there is motion, there is also life. How could it fail to draw attention? However, media technology installations are not only effective eye-catchers; they are also a source of information. Visitors take in information about events, products, etcetera in a matter of seconds - and it is presented in an appealing way. Moving pictures, announcements and music reliably reach the eyes and ears of target groups.
And, interactivity is always an option. That way, visitors can get just the information they want or even participate in the event, for example, via SMS. For this year's "Hamburger Hafengeburtstag" (port of Hamburg's birthday celebrations), Zelfmade, Hamburg, commissioned a mobile-to-screen tool that enables visitors to public viewing events to send interactive photos and greetings from their mobile phone to the large video screen, to flirt, make appointments or take part in sponsors sweepstakes. The tool, which offers numerous options for innovative presentation of brands, will come into its own next year when more large LED screens go up for the World Cup 2006 in Germany.
One particularly important and widely used means of presenting audio-visual information is beamer projection. Compared with conventional front projection, rear or back projection produces a much brighter and higher-contrast image for a given beamer power. In daylight conditions, back projection is clearly more advantageous. There is no need to darken the room and presentation is even possible outdoors. A further advantage of back projection is that the beamer is installed behind the screen. This considerably lowers the noise level in the auditorium, gives scope for attractive room design and avoids glare and shadows.
Good back projection all depends on the right choice of projection panel or foil. For example, the best conditions for high-quality back projection are afforded by the Plexiglas RP product range from Degussa AG, Darmstadt. Embedded microlenses ensure perfect image rendition without interfering hotspots. The company now offers three types of panel and two types of foil for back projection screens. The 3-mm thick panels are especially suitable for sturdy all-round screens, while the foils are mainly used for applications requiring a high viewing angle, image acuity and flexible surfaces.
The aesthetically striking new HoloPresenterplus is supplied by G+B pronova, Bergisch Gladbach. It uses transparent panels as the projection surfaces. Visitors are actively addressed: Information can be changed dynamically as a function of the day and time via the incorporated software. Due to its design and the properties of the glass, the HoloPresenterplus is not just a projection screen but an integral part of the lighting and interior design concept.
At the world's biggest motor show, IAA 2005, held in Frankfurt in September, visitors were informed at four points using impressive HoloPro applications. A HoloPro screen in conjunction with the newly developed Pointscreen control was used here for the first time by Volkswagen. Visitors were able to call up information on a variety of topics at six stations using the ground-breaking gesture control. Video sequences and animations were combined with exhibits placed behind. The light weight of the HoloPro screens combined with the gesture control encouraged visitors to interact actively with the technologies presented.
In the BMW pavilion, HoloPro touch screens were used as interactive presentation surfaces. Visitors were able to find out about engine technology and future developments at various stations. Thanks to the integration of HoloPro, the information floated in front of the exhibits and effectively enhanced the presentation. Further information was available at the press of a finger.
At the IAA, exhibitors such as Audi, Skoda, Saab, General Motors, Suzuki and Brose also used audio-visual media technologies and drew on the services of CT Germany, Nürtingen, which were used at press conferences and at trade fair stands. The most popular items were high-resolution large LED screens, high-power beamers, transmission and audio technology.
In November, the CT Germany team took its services to the Tokyo Motorshow 2005. For the trade fair appearances of Volkswagen, Saab and Bugatti, the service provider with international experience supplied equipment and services to Japan. For example, they equipped and technically supported Volkswagen's international press conference with three camera production units, the appropriate mixers and a character generator and teleprompter from the CT hire pool. The stand concept integrated a combination of the MiPIX road module and high-resolution Barco ILite 6 XP LED modules. Right and left of the 9-m2 high, high-resolution 6-mm LED screen, a total of 24 MiPIX road modules were installed that were integrated into the communication wall over a width of more than 25 m. A fascinating effect was produced by the high-definition feed-in of video and graphics contents into both LED products with differing resolutions. In addition to the entire video equipment, the CT team "hit the right note" by supplying all the audio equipment for the over 1100-m2 stand.
At the stand of Swedish automaker Saab, three separate large LED screens were integrated into the open design architecture of the stand. The two VersaLightguide LED screens and a high-resolution Barco ILite 6 XP LED screen each measuring 4 x 4 m impressed visitors by the co-ordinated interaction of video and graphics on the different screen resolutions.
For Ispo Sommer 2005 in Munich, Eyeball Show Media, London, erected a huge LED image relaying screen which, fed with video and audio material, served as the official central source of information. Messe München used the installation for video presentations, display of pavilion layouts, event schedules and more information besides to make attendees visits even more effective. This enabled the trade fair host to reduce the quantity of printed brochures handed out.
But other shapes are also possible. For the Games Convention 2005 in Leipzig, for example, MSS Communications Design, Notzingen, landed the order to manufacture a printed fabric object with integrated 10,000-ANSI-lumen projection, on suspended 120-inch back projection screens. The intricate design of the cone was printed and sewn according to specifications of Buena Vista Games. The two back projections were effected from the tower 4 m above the ground.
MSS has recently started offering frameless plasma screens for any image size. The new 42-inch displays can be built into anything and thus offer an innovative solution for events, trade fairs or permanent installations. 4:3 or 16:9 format, columns or strips, with suitable software, it is possible to produce interesting configurations. A wide viewing angle, a strong contrast ratio, high resolution and a very bright image are further advantages.
Frameless plasma screens are on the rise: Videotechnik Bär, Ochsenhausen, or ict Innovative Communication Technologies, Kohlberg, offer them. The screens can simply be mounted side by side or one above the other to create enormous high-resolution large displays - without thick frames getting in the way of the picture and without any restrictions to the dimensions of the total display area. This innovation on the plasma market with frames narrower than 5mm delivers top image quality - bright, high-contrast and flickerfree. With their slender, slimline design, the 42-inch displays are very flexible. At trade fairs, at the POI, at the POS, at events or in permanent installations, frameless plasma displays can be integrated into almost any environment.
A smaller mounting depth means that users save space and weight compared with other large displays like back projection systems. Wider viewing angles and more natural colour rendering than on cubes or LC displays are further factors in favour of using frameless plasma displays, ict claims. Because there are no bulbs to be changed unlike in projectors, short maintenance intervals are a thing of the past.
A completely different type of projection surface made its appearance during a roadshow marking the 10th anniversary of Deutsche Post AG. The new fog screen from Finland was used - a curtain of tiny water droplets forms the projection surface. A powerful beamer projects pictures and films onto a falling curtain of fog. It was fine enough to allow visitors to walk through it while it was running without getting wet. The planning and installation of the lighting, audio and media technology equipment and the software development originated from LK AG, Essen.
To provide an impression of Deutsche Post AG's global network, the novel LED Panel Versa Tile was used that can display up to a billion colours. Using application programming specially developed by LK for this roadshow, visitors were able to take the controls in the control centre. For example, they were able to move a video monitor along a slide rail, activating explanatory films about different products at various positions. All these interactive functions required extensive control programming by LK. In total, 12 interactive touch terminals, more than 20 plasma, data and video monitors, 40 Versa Tiles and almost 40 video and data feeds with the corresponding media controls were installed. Raumtechnik Messebau & Event Services, Ostfildern, was responsible for designing and implementing six large cubes for background information.
An even more all-encompassing solution is possible: A concept for a multimedia pavilion with an all-round glass screen at the centre and two curved screens in the outer wall was developed by Screen. New Technologies, Alzenau-Hörstein, in cooperation with System Modern. This multimedial infotainment was commissioned by DaimlerChrysler AG. The 2-m high electronic infotainment columns at the centre use eight Eiki projectors arranged in a circle in the interior. Another 13 Eiki projectors are integrated on the outside screens in the upper part of the column. The result is a further 360° interior projection onto two sub-surfaces, interrupted only by the entrances.
As a low-cost alternative to an LED screen, Screen.NT offers the biggAIR display for open-air relaying of events. Even in daylight, the newly developed display shows clear pictures on a 4 x 3 m screen, for a fraction of the cost of comparable LED screens. It employs inflatable technology and makes child's play of transport, erection, and operation. In addition to the projection surface, the cube provides space for exchangeable advertisements in XXL format on three sides. In the container, two projectors operate in double projection with a lighting power of 10,000 ANSI lumens. A larger model with a 24-m2 projection surface is currently being developed for the World Cup 2006.
And on the subject of football, the smaller version of the Football Globe Germany developed by the multi-artist André Heller for FIFA is going on a world tour. As on the big Football Globe, Screen.NT integrated the audio and video technology, including detailed development. After many design models for overall coordination of the concept, the project was implemented for the design agency 3deLuxe, Wiesbaden. While the Football Globe tours the German cities that will be hosting the matches, the City Globe will appear in many cities around the globe, starting at Tokyo. This infotainment monument packed full of video, lighting and sound effects aims to promote the World Cup 2006 in Germany. The City Globe is just as much a complete multimedia work of art as its big brother.
For all types of corporate promotion in film and product or application information, Display & Design Helmut Amelung, Overath, Cologne, has developed the new media tower Enterprise. The silver-grey double-convex column features a 17-inch flat screen and an integrated DVD player and TV tuner. The entire tower can be divided in two thanks to a special plug-in contact technique and can even be transported in an ordinary passenger car. It is erected in a few easy steps.
A 360° projection formed the central information and design element of the stand of Draeger Safety at the A+A international leading fair for safety and health at work in Düsseldorf. The entire video and audio equipment was provided by media house Gahrens+Battermann, Bergisch Gladbach. High-power projectors were used for the panorama projection and fitted into a media tower with the necessary feed equipment. Special software modifications ensured seamless image transitions on the round projection surface. A central show and media control coordinated all the projected material. These controls are programmed individually for different requirements. The round cinema was built for the exhibitor in cooperation with Preuss Messe, Holm.
m+a report Nr.8 / 2005 vom 08.12.2005
m+a report vom 8. Dezember 2005