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“They saw this as an evolving space, and they wanted the projection glass to blend seamlessly with the architectural glass of the lobby walls.” With front-projection being ruled out as being too visible a technology for the space, the team went about designing a rear-projection solution. But here, too, there were issues. Space behind the walls was limited, giving RP Visuals, the company tasked with designing the mounts for the projectors, more than a few challenges. “Each of the three ‘touch experience’ areas were unique and each one represented an optical challenge,” explained Randy Pagnan, President of RP Visuals, the company tasked with designing the mounts for the projectors. “Most obviously, each design called for edge-blending of multiple projected images, and in no instance were we able to use multi-point mirrors, six-axis mounts, or the ideal lens optics for blending. “Nonetheless, with projectiondesign’s range of lens options and WB2560 multi-image processor, together with
ProNet.precision software and Stewart Filmscreen projection surfaces, we were able to engineer solutions that did not compromise the results in any way, despite almost all of our ‘golden rules for blending’ being broken.”
ProNet.precision is a camera based auto alignment software tool for fl at and cylindrical surfaces in a single or multiple projector set up. Interfacing with projectiondesign’s warp and blend processing engines, the auto alignment is done accurately and at the push of a button, making it easy to re-align the set up at any point, saving on maintenance costs and resources. Using a standard SLR camera, the software automatically generates an adjustable alignment grid of a set up based on the picture feed and sends the desired coordinates to the WB imaging processor engine. The interface helps add precision to help manage blend zones down to the very last pixel. Matthew commented on how the software is used at Boston and what he likes about it: “The projectiondesign software constantly monitors the 15 installed projectors and allows the in house audiovisual system tech at the university to maintain the system easily. The projectors are on 10-12 hours a day. The software is camera based and can be automatically adjusted with a couple of button pushes on a laptop.” The end resulting design at the visitor centre sees four projectiondesign F32 SXGA+ DLP projectors in a 2 x 2 blended confi guration driving one touchscreen measuring around 7.5ft high by 9.25ft wide, while a pair of projectiondesign F32 1080p projectors mounted side-by-side power a 2.5ft by 9.25ft banner area above. On the opposite wall is an almost identical confi guration, the same height but slightly wider to fi t within the space available between the architectural glass wall and the lobby entrance. The ‘Spinning Globe’ screen sees two projectiondesign F32 SXGA+ resolution projectors throwing onto a surface 6.5ft high by 5ft wide, with a 4ft banner area above powered by a single F32 1080p. The
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projectiondesign F32 series of professional grade DLP projectors is one of the company’s top selling single chip models. It is specifi cally designed for graphically challenging applications, such as multi- channel seamless visualisation walls, domes, and high resolution imaging. Available with up to 8,000 lumens brightness and 30-bit RGB. Matthew commented on what he particularly admires about it: “We liked the colour accuracy, warranties available, colour matching and blending capabilities of the F32. And also another crucial factor was that it could squeeze into the small space available along with the mounts. The tolerances were extremely close with objects very close to one another.” PQ Labs Multi-Touch G32 overlays are used on the projection surfaces to bring motion data to a series of 12 network computers, allowing visitors to come up to each screen and interact with its content using all 10 fi ngers. The scheme allows visitors to pull up videos, still images and information, choosing data on particular education programs using a GUI developed by Downstream. The content developed by them and Northeastern allow for self exploration to quickly access media or written content from faculty, alumni, admissions and enrolment staff, and current students. This way of presenting the information is very dynamic and has served to increase interest from prospective students beyond tours and more formal presentations. The third area is smaller and provides a spinning project globe to show Northeastern’s international reach beyond the New England area. There are also icons, popups, twitter feeds and other ways to grab people’s attention. News feeds come from Twitter and RSS, while the static banners atop the two main walls display different content in keeping with the time of day and complementing the lobby’s LED lighting system. “The architectural and technology designs were heavily infl uenced by the existing conditions, and depth for the rear-projection zone of the interactive displays was extremely tight, making the margin for error very small for the implementation of a blended projected image,” confi rmed Matthew. “With great teamwork, careful component and software selection, a dedicated installation team from the Whitlock and valuable technical support from projectiondesign throughout the intensive planning, design and project completion phases, we were able to achieve extremely high-quality seamless images in a very constrained space.” Cavanaugh Tocci Associates was brought in during December of 2011 after Northeastern had a chance to see some of its previous installation work. The architectural design team had already made signifi cant progress with a different AV concept before Cavanaugh Tocci got involved. The timeline for completion was fairly tight. The entire team brought the audiovisual system from concept to opening day within about 7-8 months. The centre is run by the admissions offi ce and their audience is high-school and other prospective students and their families. Matthew is particularly keen to stress how important touchscreen
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