SOLUTIONS: MAGIC CUBE VISITOR CENTRE, FOCE BEVANO NATURE RESERVE
from a pair of BenQ 3000 ANSI lumen XGA DLP projectors. The remaining two are covered with mirrors, giving an extremely realistic impression of being in a huge industrial elevator travelling into the bowels of the earth. Atmospheric lighting (via six
ProLight ArcLED RGB LED fixtures by Italian manufacturer Music & Lights), sound effects (played back through a pair of QSC ADS 52 loudspeaker enclosures, powered by a QSC GX3 amplifier) and mist generated by a Robe fazer rising up from the floor complete the immersive effect. The lighting and fazer are controlled via a Chauvet Xpress 512 DMX USB interface. The Tower’s audio content – also
produced by IBR Sistemi – consists mainly of sound effects creating the atmosphere of the elevator’s movement (pistons, chains, gates opening and closing, creaks and so on) and ambient sounds. A commentary by actor Fabio Massimo Amoroso explains the various levels reached and what they contain. The videos were also produced by IBR, using images supplied by the park. In the room hosting the Talking Monolith, a 3D animation of the sky is projected on the wall in front of the Monolith (containing a 60in display) and dry leaves projected on the floor by another BenQ 3k unit crackle and move underfoot.
[ABOUT THE INSTALLER]
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Genoa, IBR Sistemi has three main fields of activity: simulation, multimedia and virtual reality
Its Naval Simulation system was conceived to carry out crew training activities: from cargo ships to speedboats. Features include virtual command bridges and complete vessel mock-up. IBR Sistemi co-operates at an international level with navies, research institutes, shipyards and on board systems manufacturers
Touchscreens provide information on the park in the Talking Monolith room The various strata of the earth
below are revealed as visitors approach the display with a multi- touch overlay, which is initially transparent, but is triggered via proximity sensors. The displays tell the story of the park and its various zones. There is a particular focus on the control of water by the Consorzio di Bonifica, a public body charged with maintaining the park’s
ecosystem and its wide range of flora and fauna. The coastal area and its changes through time are shown by means of a historical and iconographic study of the area via maps and other documentation, the relationship between the specific ecosystem and man’s activities connected with it.
CLIMATE CHANGES The weather conditions of the sky projected on the wall change according to feedback from the room’s sensors as visitors move around. The projections on the large screen in the centre of the room are courtesy of a BenQ Full HD 4000 ANSI lumen projector, concealed in the false ceiling.
When visitors use the touchscreen to consult a map of the park, the floor of the room is transformed into a huge reproduction of the map in question.
As visitors move away from the monolith, the sensors trigger the projections on the floor again, changing it into a sandy coastal area or grassy undergrowth, then unleashing a downpour of rain on to a marshy area. The Talking Monolith’s audio consists of ambient effects – such as wind, rain, dry leaves blown by the wind and running water – also produced by IBR.
IBR Sistemi’s Claudio Donato says:
“We conceived and developed the rooms’ custom software to meet the park’s precise requirements and realised the two interactive environments on the basis of the contents supplied by the park, which we processed and produced for this specific use.” The system was designed to
ensure practically unlimited updates or integration with new content or expressive media in the future. It has the advantage of putting a considerable amount of scientific and educational information at visitors’ disposal using technology that is
www.installation-international.com
Multimedia services include design, development, assistance, contents management organisation and installations for permanent and temporary shows
Successful virtual reality projects include the NATO Undersea Research Center and Bologna University
user-friendly, thanks to an interface that uses iPad-style gestures.
MISSION CONTROL IBR installed five Dell PCs to run the two rooms’ software: an Inspiron ONE 2320 is used with the multi-touch monitor in the Descent Tower; of the quartet of XPS 830, two are used to control the projections on the walls of the Descent Tower, one controls the interactivity of the Monolith’s multi- touch screen and the other controls the sky and the floor projections in the same room. One of the four also doubles as a master controller, enabling the centre’s staff to start up and switch off the entire system from a single point.
Donato concludes: “The overall challenge with this project was to design two installations able to inform visitors about the history of the park and its wide range of flora and fauna in an unusual, exciting way – but with limited space at our disposal to do so. In particular, in the Descent Tower, it was of fundamental importance to create the sensation of really going down into the bowels of the earth. At the inauguration, when we saw visitors looking around and saying ‘But are we really moving?’, we realised to our great satisfaction that we’d succeeded in our intent.”
www.benq.com www.chauvetlighting.com www.dell.com www.ibrsistemi.com www.musiclightsitaly.com www.qscaudio.com www.robe.cz
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