Installation 224 September 2019

September 2019 Issue 224

Common goal To create great experiences is now the endgame for all

AV integration in a networked world

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CONTENT Brand Editor: Duncan Proctor, duncan.proctor@futurenet.com Group Editor, Pro AV: Jo Ruddock, jo.ruddock@futurenet.com Group Content Director, B2B: James McKeown james.mckeown@futurenet.com Graphic Designer: Marc Miller, marc.miller@futurenet.com Managing Design Director, B2B: Nicole Cobban nicole.cobban@futurenet.com Production Manager: Matthew Eglinton, matthew.eglinton@futurenet.com ADVERTISING SALES Group Sales Manager: Richard Gibson richard.gibson@futurenet.com Overseas Sales Contact - Executive Vice President: Adam Goldstein, adam.goldstein@futurenet.com SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.installation-international.com/ page/faqs or email subs@installation-international.com LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS Installation is available for licensing. Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities. Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com ISSN number: 2050-6104 Future PLC 1-10 Praed Mews Paddington London, W2 1QY

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Across the board Tackling a theme such as ‘experience creation’ is undoubtedly something of a challenge. While there is plenty to talk about, the subject has become so allencompassing that it now stretches to every corner of the industry, making it almost impossible to pin down succinctly.

The idea of creating great experiences, while not a new concept, was for some time reserved for sectors squarely considered ‘entertainment’ such as museums and visitor attractions. However, now it has become a requirement across the board and something every user considers, almost as second nature. There is a growing level of crossover between the entertainment side and the newer corporate implementations of AV technology.

In this issue’s special report we delve deeper into what it means to create great experiences and raise questions such as – are we becoming desensitised to experiences? And is the distance between a good and a great experience widening?

As the definition of a great experience is constantly in flux, it creates a somewhat turbulent time for integrators, but also one rich in opportunities.

The level of technical innovation presents an interesting dilemma for the future of experiences. All things appear to be pointing towards further personalisation and more individual interaction. While this will provide an immersive experience, will it also remove a lot of the social side of great installations?

Within enterprises, the benefits are irrefutable as those companies focusing on experiences are reaping the rewards in the form of improved productivity and greater tools to attract and retain the best talent. It is also a powerful message to prospective clients, with many companies investing heavily to showcase how tech-savvy and forward-thinking they are.

One such enterprise is Abcam – a life science ecommerce business, which has recently completed a large-scale project to create a 100,000sqft HQ. It will be interesting to see the dividends from this approach and the impact this new focus on agile working and collaboration has on the business. The integrator noted that the end user was at the forefront of discussions throughout, and this is something that is likely to happen more and more as employees increasingly expect a simple yet intuitive and effective workplace experience.

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Contents

32

42

18 Contributors: David Davies Anthony Karydis Rob Lane Kevin McLoughlin Ian McMurray Honey Tavakoli Dan Williams

Special thanks: Aimee Birch Lottie Buckley Amy Denham Emma Jefferies

Special Report: Experience creation

38 Abcam Cambridge Biomedical Campus

26 Knock-on effects We also look at how this thirst for great experiences is affecting the corporate space and the benefits this provides to those getting it right

42 The National Centre for Performing Arts

06 Opinion Dan Williams provides six points to consider when choosing a retail display installation partner Honey Tavakoli highlights how WAVE's mentor programme has helped her career Anthony Karydis on how 5G could provide a new era for the immersive content industry

A leading ecommerce business has assimilated its four facilities into one global HQ for agile working, with a focus on spaces that aid collaboration

The first ever d&b V-Series point source install in India has helped this iconic venue raise its audio standards

44 Solutions in Brief Including Christie's Times Square LED install, the $110m overhaul of Canada's National Arts Centre, and Edinburgh International Festival's spectacular opening event

48 Products Featuring Lab Gruppen’s new series of commercial install amplifiers and Logitech Room Solutions for Google Meet

12 PLASA Show 2019 preview

50 Showcase

Peter Heath discusses the show's recent successes and what to expect this year

The latest steerable speaker offerings

14 Interview

Kevin McLoughlin talks about what’s being done in the fight for diversity in the AV industry and the barriers faced when it comes to championing inclusivity

DSO president Simon Jackson on how digital signage continues to evolve at a pace

4

Schools are navigating budget challenges to smartly invest in AV and facilitate new methods of teaching

18 Desirable outcomes What constitutes a great experience is continually changing – we look at how the industry is upping the ante to hit ever greater heights

Cover Image: Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Flying Beyond Borders Credit: teamLab | Borderless

32 Feature: Freedom to teach

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52 Last word

Opinion

partner becomes crucial. You’re putting your brand in their hands – how do you decide which is the right firm for you?

A useful starting point is to consider the following six key issues:

Quality counts Six points to consider when choosing a retail display installation partner,

by Dan Williams When you’re running product launches and promotions, retail displays can be your most valuable tool. A recent survey we conducted with 200 retail professionals provides proof of just how valuable retail displays can be: 40% of respondents stated that displays increased sales by at least 10%, 19% by more than a quarter, and 13% by over half.

A well-designed and made display is only the starting point. The way you manage installation and ongoing maintenance is equally important in ensuring the display then meets its full potential.

To meet consistently high standards as you roll out the displays across multiple locations means overcoming a series of challenges. First, you must get every single display erected to agreed timescales, wherever in the world it might be. Second, each display must be positioned exactly as intended, assembled correctly, safely and without damage, and merchandised in accordance with the planogram. And, third, you must find a way to ensure that each display looks as good on the final day of the promotion as it did on the first.

To achieve all of this means paying attention to quality across every detail of the installation. This is where your choice of installation

Any poor-quality element will reduce customer interest and could also reflect negatively on the brand" 6

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• Industry expertise Look for a firm that has an established reputation and is a member of industry association POPAI (and as such will follow industry best practice). The expertise of the installation teams themselves is also important – do team members have relevant accreditations?

• Relevant experience Check that the firm has handled comparable projects in the past. For international projects, check the partner has the experience to handle logistics, language and legalities smoothly across the relevant countries.

Without this experience, regulatory and cultural differences and language barriers can easily lead to problems, additional costs and delays.

• Capacity and resources Ideally, you want one single firm to be able to manage the complete roll out for you. It’s the most cost-effective option – and it makes life a lot simpler. Once you start bringing in multiple firms, you increase complexity: multiple briefings with different people, repeated queries and conversations, inconsistent standards, multiple contracts and invoices.

• Project management arrangements For greatest success with the least stress, you want to be working with a single project manager who will pull every element together and provide comprehensive reporting to keep key stakeholders informed.

• Ongoing maintenance Without ongoing maintenance, displays will deteriorate, harming the customer’s perception of the brand and becoming less effective. Choose a firm that can offer a maintenance contract as well as the initial installation.

• Local inspections If staff can check up on other nearby installations when working on the new project, that will add value to the service provided. Some firms will do this as a matter of course; others won’t.

Choose your installation partner well, and you’ll have a team you can rely on, a stress-free roll out, and consistent high-quality installations that will help your displays deliver maximum return on investment.

Dan Williams is founder and MD at 100% Group www.100percentgroup.com

Opinion

Spreading positivity The Women in AV mentor programme has already made a difference to my career, and it could help you too, says Honey Tavakoli As a young professional woman working in the AV industry, the WAVE mentor programme gave me a great opportunity to meet and network with likeminded industry professionals, who are both passionate and committed.

The WAVE mentor programme has allowed me to gain a better industry understanding, while meeting women who either have strong footholds or are making positive contributions, which I have found to be very inspirational.

Since joining the programme, my selfconfidence and product knowledge has grown dramatically and having such an amazing mentor – Nicki Fisher from Clear-Com – who holds such a respectable position within the AV and broadcast markets has allowed me to set myself aspirational career targets, one which I have already achieved. I am very proud to have joined one of the industry’s leading AV manufacturers earlier this year.

The programme is an inspiration for any young professional looking to establish a career within the AV industry" 8

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My management team at LG Electronics are very open minded and supportive of both myself and my involvement in the WAVE mentor programme and hope that I can spread the positivity I have gained to other women within my organisation.

A helping hand I am fortunate to have a mentor like Nicki who is committed to the programme, and the knowledge and experience she has passed onto me is invaluable. I know even when the programme has ended that she is one call away and will always support me; this is one of the many reasons I joined the WAVE programme because everyone supports each other and is always willing to lend a helping hand.

Another thing I like about the programme is that, there is always an opportunity to talk to others about their experiences. It creates a forum where we can share experiences and gives me a good idea of what other companies and sectors of the industry embrace and empower their female employees.

A typical working week for me can be varied, from working on a large sales opportunity one minute to nurturing one of my prospective accounts the next.

Sharing this experience with my mentor has meant that I am able to get fresh ideas and step back and approach things from a different angle.

I have enjoyed being a part of the programme and look forward to my continued growth and tackling new day-to-day and larger project-led opportunities with the aid of my mentor, who I can always rely on for impartial and positive advice.

I am looking forward to continuing my experiences in the programme and hearing about the progress of my fellow colleagues/friends which I have made being a part of WAVE. The programme is an inspiration for any young professional looking to establish a career within the AV industry and I actively encourage other young women to take part.

Honey Tavakoli is reseller account manager at LG www.lg.com

Opinion

will transform the way we experience immersive content, providing the traffic and network capacity required to bring the technology to mass audiences across the world and provide unprecedented access to large-scale cultural events.

Preparing for 5G

5G: a new era The rollout of 5G has the potential to transform the way we experience immersive content, says Anthony Karydis If I told you that the first head-mounted display for immersive simulation applications was developed in 1968, the likelihood is you’d be surprised.

Immersive technologies have been around for some time now, but while they’ve developed at a steady rate, it’s only recently that we’ve witnessed a real boom in the industry. Now VR and AR are acronyms accepted into common parlance, thanks in part to their adoption by the gaming community and wildly popular mobile applications, such as Pokémon Go. Virtual and augmented reality hold the potential to revolutionise the way we create and consume content, either by augmenting our daily lives or by truly immersing us in experiences.

However, further progress and adoption of the technology has been hampered by the limited latency, capacity and efficiency of current mobile networks.

These have proved particular barriers when it comes to the development of simultaneous 360º VR experiences. Right now, we can all enjoy being immersed in a different world – but it’s incredibly difficult to share it with anyone else.

This will change with the rollout of 5G. The nextgeneration mobile network

The 5G roadmap is complex, making layering a product roadmap on top of this even more difficult" 10

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As CEO of a UK-based immersive content business, I knew that the widespread rollout of 5G would have an astronomical impact on my business. However, knowing something is coming and having a fullyfledged plan for its arrival are two very different things. Like many of my peers, I struggled to find the bandwidth or skills internally to fully prepare for 5G’s arrival.

And getting ready to capitalise on the opportunities promised by a next-generation network is no mean feat. The 5G roadmap is complex, making layering a product roadmap on top of this even more difficult.

In need of a hand, we turned to the UK’s digital innovation centre, Digital Catapult, which offered support through several initiatives. These included the 5G Testbed Acceleration Programme, the Future of Training Showcase, the 5G-Victori (Horizon 2020) Project and the 5G Smart Tourism Project.

Paving the way Taking part in the 5G Smart Tourism showcase proved to be a pivotal moment for Mativision. This enabled us to step away from our comfort zone in the music industry, and look at how immersive content, supported by 5G, could benefit tourism.

One of 19 companies selected for the project, we pioneered the integration of 5G technology with VR to develop a 4K 360º VR experience of Bristol Pride Day and Harbour Festival. This could be played simultaneously through multiple VR devices, revealing 5G’s potential to overcome current barriers to sharing immersive content in sync.

When previously doing commercial 360º livestreams, the viewer would experience a delay of 45 seconds from the moment of action to the moment it appeared in the VR headset. However, we managed to reduce this at the 5G Smart Tourism Showcase, getting the delay down to just four seconds. This is remarkable; it is comparable with the typical delay of 1-2 seconds seen on big screens in stadiums. Very soon, using the technologies available at the Future Networks Lab and relying on the expertise of the team there, we’ll be able to get the delay down to milliseconds.

This is just one example of how immersive content, supported by 5G, can democratise cultural experiences. Mativision has been successfully live streaming high-profile concerts and other events (like

Opinion

MTV’s EMAs) in 360º for more than a decade.

However, 5G’s low latency will now allow us to deliver a VR streaming experience shot on-location with a short enough delay (tens of milliseconds) to offer off-site viewers an incredible immersive experience, something like an immersive ‘second screen’.

Such developments will also permit unprecedented access to events, providing people who are physically unable to attend with an immersive experience of the event far closer to the real thing than watching it on television.

Immersive training Looking beyond tourism, the rollout of 5G will fasttrack the use of immersive content in numerous sectors and situations. Indeed, VR is already being used in training to simulate high-stress scenarios, such as medical emergencies or landing a plane.

Organisations that deploy the technology in this way stand to benefit from 5G’s rollout, as multiple people will be able to experience scenarios simultaneously.

Team-based synced training will become feasible without the need for excessive infrastructures. This will save organisations time and help them to better assess and compare the performance of participants.

The effectiveness of immersive training means that content development for this purpose is set to become increasingly competitive. This was palpable at Digital Catapult’s Future of Training showcase, where we exhibited numerous 5G-enabled platform solutions to industry and academics alongside five other companies.

What’s next for immersive content?

ABOVE: The 5G Smart Tourism Project led to the development of a 4K 360º VR experience of Bristol Pride Day and Harbour Festival

Initiatives such as the 5G Smart Tourism Project and Future of Training showcase are key for the development of the immersive content industry in the UK. These offer participants invaluable exposure to new sectors, networks and expertise, enabling businesses like Mativision to test their boundaries and realise their full potential. We’re committed to staying at the forefront of immersive content development, and this depends on fully understanding the nextgeneration network and what it means for us. Thanks to our involvement in the initiatives discussed, and the support of our partners, we now do.

Anthony Karydis is CEO of Mativision www.mativision.com

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11

Showtime!

Having successfully bounced back from some pretty tough times, Peter Heath, PLASA MD, discusses the organisation’s plans for its flagship event, which takes place 15-17 September at London Olympia How happy are you with the way last year’s show was received (particularly by pro-audio brands)?

We were very pleased with the response to last year’s show, both during the exhibition and in the conversations that followed. We’ve made no secret of our ambition to grow the audio side of the PLASA Show in conjunction with lighting, video and staging. The 2018 exhibition was a strong step in that direction, from the very busy showfloor to a substantial growth in the number of leading audio brands who were present.

Most importantly, we weren’t the only ones who were happy! Year-on-year we experienced a 4% increase in visitors of whom 63% were decision-makers, meaning a lot of business was done. More than 70% of the exhibitors immediately rebooked for 2019.

What are your aims for this year’s show?

Building on the success of last year, the PLASA Show 2019 will be the best example yet of how PLASA itself is changing and adapting to serve the modern business, 12

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from the thriving lighting community that calls the show home to the largest audio component in years.

From an audio perspective, we understand the importance of bringing industry-leading manufacturers to the show and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver, including d&b audiotechnik as a headline sponsor, L-Acoustics returning to the show after a strong debut in 2018, Coda Audio exhibiting for the first time, Void Acoustics debuting, plus Bose, Yamaha and many more.

In addition, we’ll be introducing three new audio lounges where visitors will be able to experience in-depth demonstrations of key new technologies including L-Acoustics’ A Series medium throw for touring and installation, Sound Technology demoing its high-profile brands and installed sound from RCF. Proving that we’re listening to visitors and exhibitors alike, we’ve doubled the number of audio demos to create what we believe is the best UK-based opportunity for audio professionals to hear back-to-back demos from Adam Hall, Shermann Audio, Void Acoustics, Aura Audio and OHM. KV2 Audio will present demonstrations in a dedicated space while Outboard TiMax shows off its immersive audio technology.

We are also very excited to introduce a brand new audio element to the PLASA Show, named Stage to Studio and organised in association with Sound on Sound and Headliner magazine. We’ve developed this concept in recognition of how the industry itself is changing, particularly when it comes to live recording.

There are many young audio engineers across the UK and beyond who go out and mix shows, produce music at home and buy pro-audio equipment, but they feel barely any connection to the industry as we have known it in the past. It is absolutely vital that we bring these people into the industry, which means we have to adapt.

Stage to Studio is part of making that happen.

PLASA Show 2019

How have you changed the recipe of the show to increase its appeal to audio brands?

The evolution of the PLASA Show has been an exercise in balancing the way we serve the broader entertainment technology community, so it doesn’t matter whether you deal in speakers, moving heads, truss, screens or IP networks, you can participate in the PLASA Show knowing that your time will be well spent.

Everyone knows that from an audio perspective, the PLASA Show experienced some challenging years. We were very open in addressing those issues. But it is also important to recognise how we grasped the opportunity that came as a result of that time. We engaged with brands at all levels and listened carefully to what we were told. A tremendous amount of change followed, from the move back to Olympia in central London to creating far more opportunities for live demos, the arrival of major brands, the creation of more forums for networking and the introduction of new, innovative show features such as Stage to Studio. It’s been a long process of reinvention and of course it never really ends, but I’m proud of the progress that we’ve made.

I think it’s also important to remember that, at heart, the business of entertainment technology is inherently social – as an industry we run on relationships. For any exhibition to succeed, people need to feel that when they step into the show, they’ll be met by friends and colleagues they wouldn’t otherwise see. I’m glad to say that for audio people (I count myself among them), that feeling is 100% back at the PLASA Show.

What are the big trends you expect to see from exhibitors this year?

Immersive audio is continuing to capture the imagination of the industry and we expect to see more of those solutions being demonstrated. We’re also anticipating a rise in the number of new technologies and products on display – with so many more brands across all of our verticals coming into the show, there will simply be much more to see and hear. I think technology as a whole is beginning to converge across verticals. Not so long ago people thought of lighting, video and sound as generally being separate, whereas now the rise of IP networking is bringing everything together.

How have you developed the show’s seminar and training programme?

PLASA believes deeply in the importance of high-quality industry training, and this year’s programme reflects that commitment. We’ve worked with industry experts, members of the media and key manufacturers to develop a really diverse set of sessions. We’re covering everything from safety standards, powering an LED rig, sound for worship and immersive audio to the future of theatre and stadium sound. We’ll even have Phil Ward hosting a debate on how audio can be given a more prominent role in the overall production chain.

Show preview

It’s been a long process of reinvention and of course it never really ends, but I’m proud of the progress that we’ve made" Nearly half of the visitors to PLASA London don’t attend any other trade show. What do you think it offers that no other event does?

The PLASA Show is the go-to event for thousands of production and audio professionals who don’t attend overseas shows. There are huge numbers of people who are actively engaged in our industry and who want to see the latest technology, meet their peers and do business but for reasons of either money or time they won’t get on a plane. Also, let’s not forget that the UK remains one of the world’s leading markets for AV technology – we’re a trend-setting nation. It follows that there is a need for a strong, diverse and well attended show in the capital where domestic visitors can plug into the global industry and international visitors can meet their UK-based counterparts. The question isn’t why would people attend, it’s why on earth wouldn’t they?

Are you looking to increase the number of AV professionals attending the show and what can the show offer to entice more to attend?

AV definitely has a home at the PLASA Show, including the debut this year of Midwich, who will occupy an impressive stand of more than 100sqm. As one of the leading companies within the AV space, we take Midwich’s commitment to PLASA as a strong indication that we are moving in the right direction for an extremely important market. Visitors will also be able to meet brands including Epson, Absen and VOD Visual.

How would you assess the collective performance and health of all PLASA shows?

Each PLASA Show has its own character and appeal and I’m glad to say that they are all in great shape.

PLASA Focus Leeds is always very popular for the fantastic networking opportunities it delivers. We’re also really looking forward to bringing a whole new approach to the business in Scotland when we host PLASA Focus Glasgow in March 2020. Ultimately, PLASA is a trade association for the entire entertainment technology family, and all of our exhibitions are designed to give everyone a chance to come together, celebrate what we do and get more business done. www.plasa.org

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13

Interview

Simon Jackson, DSO

Serving the industry Simon Jackson, president of the Digital Signage Organisation, talks to Duncan Proctor about the DSO’s strategy for educating and informing all parts of the industry and reveals how digital signage continues to evolve Why do you think there is a need for the DSO? And what were the initial aims?

From my point of view, such an organisation for our industry is important because of the continuous changes the industry is undergoing. With a lot of new technology coming through, there are plenty of newcomers joining. Also, standards and practices keep changing. An association can give guidance in this variable environment, help evaluating what’s 14

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good and what’s not and offer education, training and best practices.

What is the ongoing strategy of the organisation?

The challenge that digital signage is facing is that one size never fits all. As DSO, we want to focus on identifying and demonstrating what signage means to different industries and applications, always having the view of the end user.

Interview

Simon Jackson, DSO Let me give you an example: LED is quite topical at the moment. Everybody is talking about it. All the NEC customers are talking about LED in the boardroom or in the reception area. But very few have a clue about what the best practices are or of how to mount an LED wall, what components and technology are needed or how to differentiate between high and low quality. There are new companies popping up every five minutes, without anyone from the user perspective, saying ‘wait a minute, how do I install this, how do I run it on the network, what’s the correct resolution, should I use one screen or multiple screens.’ All these questions, there are answers to but there is no way to find them.

At DSSE Munich we covered this topic and there was standing room only. It was amazing to see all these industry professionals crammed in a room wanting to learn about a relatively new segment of our industry, By sharing best practices and providing thought leadership and informed opinion about the myriad solutions, methods and opportunities, the DSO wants to help the industry grow together.

How does your membership break down?

The DSO is targeted to all people in the industry – from the consultant, to the distributor to a reseller, to a manufacturer – all the way through the supply chain. But actually, and most importantly, we want end users as members of the association as well.

Because it’s the end users who can share their experience in terms of whether a solution is good or bad and bring up important questions.

What are the key best practices that you want to instill in your membership?

First of all we should say we are not a standards organisation. It’s simply not possible to create standards in digital signage – there are too many variances. What the DSO will do is to break down the different vertical markets, different applications and show what digital signage means for the different industries. Digital signage in education is different than in corporate, and the public sector has other needs than the transportation industry or in retail, for example. Although there are many similarities, there are also major differences. And if you are in the industry or coming into the industry, demystifying and breaking down digital signage into more usable and understandable segments will help the industry more than talking about it as one big cake.

How successful do you think the organisation has been at getting its core message out and fulfilling its mission statement?

The challenge that the DSO is facing is that there is no one working on it full-time. All of the board members have quite busy and demanding jobs. So

It’s simply not possible to create standards in digital signage – there are too many variances" yes, it takes time to get it off the ground, to have the website set-up, register the company – all these things by doing them part-time do take longer than we would want them to.

But as long as our members see some value to the membership and are happy with the direction we are going, we hope to count on their patience and the time to establish ourselves. As soon as we have completed the first steps, we definitely plan to also focus on educational programmes, supplier directories, market overviews and media partnerships.

What were some of the big takeaways from DSS Europe 2019?

Firstly that the industry is in rude health. The atmosphere was very positive and the conversations I had always circulated around opportunity and optimism. I also spotted a sense of urgency – to succeed that is. There are threats to the industry as there will always be, but right now digital signage is occupying a higher percentage of the CTO’s diary than ever before and while that’s a good thing it brings increased competition and established relationships to your existing or potential customers.

So there can be a need to re/establish your identity.

How do you think that event has developed over the past couple of years?

I think it was the right thing to return to Munich after the Frankfurt sabbatical. It feels a natural home and there are a lot of tech-based companies there. The balance is right between networking and conferencing and I guess the only real improvement would be to continue to give it a more European flavour – it’s quite German-centric in terms of attendees, as you would expect, but this year I think they had more international visitors and certainly the panels had a wide range of nationalities and experience.

What do you see as the big trends in digital signage over the next few years?

One recurring theme that doesn’t show any signs of slowing is the rate of M&As in our industry. Get big or

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15

Interview

Simon Jackson, DSO

get out, you could say, but in such a fractured and dynamic industry there will always be room for innovators and agitators.

Global service requirements are becoming commonplace among the bigger companies as they look to develop rapid deployment methods with ever more efficient maintenance models.

Technology-wise we are starting to see what big data and AI means to digital signage and this will surely help with the all too often intangible ROI questions, as well as provide much better control and relevance to the technology and content.

Digital signage usage differs from industry to industry. What industries consistently utilise digital signage in the most dynamic ways?

Well it’s easy to look at retail and say how impressive some of the installations are across the world, certainly in flagship stores where ROI is less relevant, and impact is everything. But retail is still a market with huge potential outside the major stores and cities, so it has a long way to go. I think for sheer innovation, the most impressive installations I have seen come from the leisure and museums sector.

Here the budgets can be more generous towards ‘art’ installations or to provide ingenious ways of impressing the visitor. The canvasses are often large and this means technologies like projection and LED can provide ever more impressive displays, and then of course the content is not bound by a 16

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Right now digital signage is occupying a higher percentage of the CTO’s diary than ever before" typical 16:9 format so the creative agencies can have a field day!

Do you have a roadmap for how you’d like the organisation to develop over the next five years?

We want to educate, learn and teach people best practices. Our members will have access to a database of articles, which we already started to build up including reports, case studies and whitepapers. Of course, networking will be a big part as well. We are planning to attend two to three events a year, including ISE (Integrated Systems Europe), the DSS (Digital Signage Summit) and another event in Autumn. www.dso-emea.com

Special report

Experience creation

Special report

Desirable outcomes “The purpose of life,” said Eleanor Roosevelt, “is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” Ian McMurray finds out how the AV industry is making its contribution to that goal

18

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Y

ou find yourself in Queen’s Gardens in Townsville, Queensland. It’s July and, at six in the evening, Castle Hill – which dominates the city – springs to life in a multimedia show of enormous proportions. The park around you explodes into a riot of changing colour.

Or: you walk into a hotel. In the lobby, displays subtly respond to you passing – encouraging you to ‘play’ with them. There’s a virtual concierge: point at what you’re interested in, and sensors respond to your arm motion, delivering relevant content. As you walk along the elevator corridor, projected graphics react to your movement. You’re at the Renaissance Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

You’re on Concourse A at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. As well as the usual wayfinding and digital signage, there’s a 140ft-display – showing a ‘data sculpture’ that turns the airport’s invisible patterns of data into an art form. The image is also shown on two screens near the departure gates – and from outside the terminal building.

Or perhaps you’re a student in a university lecture hall. You and everyone else can clearly see and hear the professor, who seems to operate the equipment

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Experience creation LEFT: Alterface worked with Painting with Light to create Popcorn Revenge, a non-linear ride at the Walibi amusement park in Belgium

effortlessly. Now, you’re in a huddle room. It’s a great meeting because everyone can seamlessly interact not only with those in the room but those on the other side of the world.

Creative use of technology Welcome to the world of great experiences delivered by the creative use of audiovisual technology.

‘Experiences’ have always been what much of the AV world is about.

“Everything in our daily lives is an experience,” believes Thomas Walter, who is section manager, strategic product marketing at NEC Display Solutions Europe. “Listening to a professor in a university or to a business panel debate is an experience, as are going to a shopping mall or retail store, or travelling via the airport or train station. We have become desensitised as these activities become commonplace and routine and are therefore no longer considered to be an experience. Here, AV can reignite the appeal of these experiences, injecting something new, fascinating and engaging into what has become the mundane.”

Peter Pauwels, VP of sales, entertainment EMEA at Barco, develops the professor theme – and begins to articulate what a great experience should look like.

“In a university auditorium, the professor needs the audio and video to be heard,” he says. “The difference between a good experience and an optimum experience is the amount of the audience you capture. How do you assure that 99% of those present hear and see the message? How do you ensure everybody in a class or meeting interacts when they want to?”

Industry trade body AVIXA has, for some time now, been advocating precisely that – that AV is, above all, about creating great experiences, whatever the application or environment. It’s not just about the audiovisual spectaculars for which the industry has become rightly renowned – although those still represent AV technology at its most daring and compelling.

“It’s always been AVIXA’s belief that an AV experience is exceptional when content, space and technology come together to deliver the outcome the customer wants,” says Brad Grimes, the organisation’s senior director of communications.

“Sometimes, that outcome is making people go ‘wow!’ Other times, it’s greater productivity via online collaboration, or a better learning experience in a tech-enabled classroom. When we talk about great AV experiences, we’re not just talking about elaborate projection mapping or giant videowalls.”

“AV is finding its way into all types of experience – from retail and entertainment to family entertainment

centres through to lobbies of corporate buildings and offices,” agrees Matt Barton, CEO of 7thSense Design, developer of the Delta Media Server range. “Across all experiences and spaces, there’s certainly a feeling that a ‘glowing rectangle’ is just not enough any more.”

Growing crossover What’s interesting is the growing crossover between what might be termed corporate implementations of AV technology on the one hand, and the leisure and entertainment business on the other.

“Creating an experiential design has become the ‘in thing’ for many brands, corporate and retail venues and beyond,” notes Ross Magri, managing director of Sarner, which specialises in the design of a variety of visitor attractions, including theme parks and museum exhibitions – and brand experiences. “In recent years, we’ve seen how large corporate institutions are investing large sums of money to create immersive, experiential, technologically sophisticated spaces that work for both the visiting public and the employees of the business.”

An AV experience is exceptional when content, space and technology come together to deliver the outcome the customer wants” Brad Grimes, AVIXA “The great experiences in museums, projection mapping, corporate lobbies and so on are the ones that are best remembered,” adds Pauwels. “For example, the lobby of Comcast Philadelphia officially became a tourist attraction because of the experience.”

And, in the same way there is crossover in terms of environment, so too there is crossover in terms of what constitutes a great experience, and what doesn’t – whatever the application.

“Technology cannot be visible or noticed as this would take focus from guests away from the game and attraction,” believes Benoit Cornet, CEO and founder of Alterface, which creates interactive dark rides.

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Working seamlessly Operating in an adjacent market area is Holovis, which specialises in experiential design for both entertainment and corporate applications.

“A technology experience is typically defined as not great when users are aware of the technology that they are using,” agrees Peter Cliff, creative director. “A great experience is when everything works seamlessly and the output of the technology is noticed above and beyond the physical system.”

Case study: Helping keep minds sharp

“The challenge for the creative team together with the AV engineer is to design a solution in which the user is not aware of the sophisticated technology that is required to deliver a seamless experience,” echoes Magri. “This is easier said than done, but is possible with advance planning and close co-operation between the client, the design team and engineer.”

Command and control could not be a more different environment to those in which Alterface, Holovis and Sarner operate – but the requirement remains the same.

“With the use of AV in a control room or situational room, for example, the focus is on effective decision-making,” points out NEC’s Walter.

“AV technology is simply a tool to assist the operator. The optimum user experience is delivered by the equipment simply working smoothly and efficiently in the background.”

“Historically, in many installations, the AV was too much ‘in your face’,” Pauwels notes, “partially because technology did not allow better integration, and partly because people were unaware of the possibilities.”

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Creating great user experiences isn’t just about satisfying millennials. Sharp supplied care homes provider New Care’s five Midlands and North West-based homes with its Meet UP interactive touchscreen tables. These provide elderly residents with access to thousands of downloadable games, puzzles and quizzes, all with adjustable difficulty levels. Sensory applications – using light and sound – help provide dementia patients with an engaging familiarity.

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He cites as an example that a projector no longer has to be at the centre of a room: the right lens and sufficient lens shift allows it to be hidden in the ceiling.

The end, not the means It becomes clear that, whatever the environment or application, the first requirement for a great experience is: the technology should, to the maximum extent possible, be invisible. The focus should be on the end, not the means – and that applies equally to manufacturers.

“AV technology can make a real impact in customer-facing settings, particularly in sectors such as retail,” says Matt Saunders, product marketing manager – visual solutions at Sharp UK. “Manufacturers are also having to think more about the user experience: as consumers, we expect the technology we use to be accessible and intuitive, and we are increasingly demanding this in our professional lives as well.”

There’s little doubt, though, that for many, the spectacles to which Grimes refers – such as ‘Halo’, the Australian spectacular described above – are what AV experiences are all about. Delivering them has assumed increasing importance as millennials, with their known preference for

Historically, in many installations, the AV was too much ‘in your face’” Peter Pauwels, Barco experience over acquisition, have become possibly the most significant demographic – whether at work or at play.

“One thing we have noticed as the world has become an experience-focused economy is that the first question we ask clients in any of these sectors is now the same: ‘what do you want the user/guest experience to be?’” says Cliff. He might, of course, equally be asking a retailer what the consumer experience should be, or an educationalist what the pupil experience should be.

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Remaining in the memory A recurring theme in some applications – it is perhaps less true for, for example, collaborative communications or education – is the concept of engagement. The thinking is, something in which you have actively participated will remain longer in the memory than something you have merely witnessed – and the goal of an experience is surely that it should be memorable. Certainly, in retail, the goal of digital signage is to not only attract the attention of consumers, it’s to engage them.

Historically, that has meant encouraging interaction – establishing a deeper relationship than simply looking at something.

Across all experiences and spaces, there’s certainly a feeling that a ‘glowing rectangle’ is just not enough any more” Matt Barton, 7thSense Design In the market for ‘experiences for experiences’ sake’, for want of a better term – theme parks, visitor attractions, exhibitions and so on – engagement is key. That doesn’t, however, just have to mean touching a screen, as Barton points out.

“Interactivity can be difficult when dealing with larger audiences as each person will want to interact differently,” he says. “However, creating immersion using technologies such as high frame rate, high resolution displays and wide field of view screens can allow people to feel as though they are interacting, while at the same time allowing the storyteller to guide them through the experience.”

Alterface’s Cornet places similar value on image quality. His company recently launched what it calls ‘Erratic Ride’, which is said to be the world’s first nonlinear (guest preferences and gaming levels determine the sequence, making it truly ‘visitorcentric’) mixed media ride and is installed in the Popcorn Revenge attraction at the Walibi amusement park in Belgium.

“The Alterface team worked with Barco for the projection technology,” he notes. “The combination 22

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of the low noise levels together with vivid colour performance and razor-sharp image quality significantly enhances the immersive experience of the dark ride.”

Gaining traction The idea of delivering a unique experience for each guest – which has the benefit of not only increasing engagement/immersion, but also of encouraging repeat visits – seems to be gaining traction.

“Interactivity is far from being done,” believes Holovis’s Cliff. “In fact, this is one of the most exciting

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spaces that we are currently developing new applications for, driven by our proprietary software.

These go beyond standard touchscreens and gesture-based experiences into something that is personal for each guest or user, so in a theme park environment they can drive their own adventure and experience something completely different from another guest, while sharing the same physical space. We are doing this by using machine learning and AI platforms to invisibly track users around a space, understanding what they are interested in and customising their journey.”

Sarner’s Magri is equally clear about what interactivity is – and where its future lies. “Interactive is an overused, and frequently misused, reference to anything that can be physically touched,” he considers. “This begs the question as to what is exactly meant in our industry when we refer to an interactive experience? In the early days, interactive was limited to pressing a button or the use of a touchscreen, but today, the meaning of interactive covers a host of technologies that range from a mechanical contraption to VR, blurring the defining line between what is and what is not interactive.”

React and respond

Case study: A sense of the past One of the major attractions at the sprawling Tang Paradise theme park in the ancient city of Xi’an is an artificial waterfall and rock garden that is designed to communicate the glamour and glory of the ancient Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Known as the Silver Bridge Waterfall, the 35m-wide, 16m-high attraction draws thousands of visitors daily. The installation features four Christie D20WU-HS laser projectors powered by 7thSense media servers.

“Nevertheless, whether you call it interactive technology or AI or VR, the desire for visitors to interact with their environment is a key challenge for the AV designer,” he goes on. “This requires very sophisticated technology to meet the visitors’ expectations – and many of those technologies are still at the development stages. We’ve seen how what started as a smart speaker – such as Amazon’s Echo or Google’s Home – has now become an integral part of how we seamlessly interact with technology; now, the challenge is to bring such technology into our industry and embrace it, allowing us to take the visitor experience to the next level.”

Smart speakers aren’t the only technology found in the home that are helping create new experiences.

“Bidirectional communication is important in creating an engaging AV experience,” suggests Walter. “This is augmented using sensors to help measure audience behaviour to in turn make the experience even more relevant.”

Magri talks about technologies that are becoming increasingly widespread in the home – but that in itself provides something of a challenge to those trying to help lure blasé consumers away from the experiences they can get from their couches.

“The bar is always rising,” believes 7thSense’s Barton, “and it’s the AV industry’s responsibility to react and respond to this with new technologies and developments. The industry is faced with the challenge to provide something that’s not available at home. Audiences want new technology-driven experiences that are worth leaving the house to see.”

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It becomes apparent that the industry’s focus on creating great experiences is growing – wherever those experiences take place.

“Creating a great experience with AV is just as important in a boardroom, a high street store or a university lecture hall as it is at a theme park,” says Sharp’s Saunders. “In a corporate environment, for example, having the right AV equipment can make or break a meeting experience.”

No longer enough It’s just two years ago that InfoComm rebranded itself as AVIXA – the audiovisual and integrated experience association – placing ‘experience’ at the heart of what the organisation felt the AV industry should be about.

To deliver great equipment and technically flawless installs was no longer enough: for continued success, the industry needed to pivot towards how its efforts were perceived by those for whom its solutions were designed.

Key Points • Delivering a great experience is no longer just about projection-mapping and theme parks: it’s become the goal of the whole AV industry • Great experiences have one thing in common: the technology and equipment that deliver them are invisible • The types of experiences once reserved for visitor attractions are becoming increasingly commonplace in the corporate environment • Where interactivity once meant pressing buttons and touching screens, new technologies are creating immersion by delivering personalised experiences • Whatever the application or environment, the definition of a great experience is that it’s one that fulfils the user’s expectations

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The Egg at XI Gallery in New York is a 10m-wide model of Lower Manhattan, projection-mapped by 7thSense media servers and Barco projectors

“A huddle space designed to ensure people can collaborate effectively on digital content, see and hear optimally whatever someone wants to share – whether they’re physically in the space or patched in remotely through a video connection – and comprehend everything and everyone in support of true, productive collaboration – that’s a great AV experience,” declares Grimes. “And because this industry is uniquely expert in understanding what outcome is desired and how AV technology can be applied effectively to achieve that outcome, AVIXA believes the AV industry is in the experience business.”

As noted at the outset, AV-driven experiences can be incredibly diverse; from transportation to hospitality to meetings to education to spectaculars – and everything in between. But, whatever the application or environment, the industry seems to be settling around a definition of what a great experience is: it’s one that delivers on a user’s expectations. Whether that expectation is “it just works” or “that was truly memorable” – it’s all about happy customers. www.7thsense.co.uk www.alterface.com www.avixa.org www.barco.com www.holovis.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.sarner.com www.sharp.co.uk

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Knock-on effects

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Experience creation is becoming more and more important across the corporate sector. Rob Lane finds out why and looks at its benefits

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xperience creation may have started its AV life in the attractions sector, but its influence has now permeated most areas of pro AV, with corporate in particular putting user experience (UX) front and centre in recent months.

AV technology is now being thoughtfully combined within corporate space and content to ensure that integrators and other stakeholders help to deliver solutions that enhance the enterprise environment.

Today’s diverse challenges to business (Brexit being the ‘gift’ that keeps on giving!), have forced decision-makers to look to AV to help accelerate their enterprises, with a burgeoning focus on UX as a way of ensuring improved productivity, decent returns on investment and the pick of the best staff.

Experience, of course, can be defined as anything users interact with, and simplicity and intuitiveness is key. Experiences are only effective when the end user has an easy pathway, and in the corporate space the need for a well thought out, detailed consultation at the beginning of the process is essential.

“Good user experiences improve technology adoption and result in an increase in the usage of the technologies/systems,” explains Dan Watson, senior consultant, AV & Multimedia at PTS Consulting. “Most of the time – providing the technologies installed have been designed to aid working – this will see an increase in workforce productivity.”

“The right experience can unlock productivity and creativity that would not be realised in traditional environments,” explains Stuart Davidson, technical services director, AVMI. “A poor experience can be 26

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ABOVE: Shure has opened experience centres around the world

similarly detrimental, with significant impacts in reputational damage and inefficiency.”

Negative impact Experience creation has become more effective as interaction with technology has continued to grow and develop, but poor experiences can have negative effects on productivity.

“If users feel that nothing is being done to improve the situation the internal image of the company suffers, which can lead to problems with staff retention and recruitment,” says Rob Smith, senior director, Integrated Systems Sales, Shure. “Conversely, a company that pays attention to the workspace and is successful in creating a positive experience can receive dividends beyond the happiness of its own staff.”

Smith cites the example of Google’s offices, renowned for being an inventive and fun environment for staff, but also having a knock-on positive effect on Google as a global, leading brand.

Carefully designed AV technology, according to Davidson, has the ability to “mentally transport” users from every day constraints to “out of the box thoughts and imagination”, and leading edge ideas.

“Over and above any other factor, experience creates impression and memory. It reinforces the message a business portrays around its brand values and culture.”

Christian Bozeat, director at macom Gmbh (UK), agrees that the correct use of technology is key, with many of today’s corporations wanting to be seen as “progressive and technology focused. Companies

The right experience can unlock productivity and creativity that would not be realised in traditional environments" Stuart Davidson, AVMI www.Installation-International.com

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want to convey the right message to their clients, investors and to the public,” he says. “And technology is an important way to consistently get that message across. It can be seen as a very user-focused approach, with immersive and interactive technologies making the experience personal to the user.”

Simplified and standardised User experience has become more important in the corporate sphere as the interaction with technology from a user’s perspective has continued to grow. This has resulted in a change of focus from features and capabilities, to ease of use and user satisfaction, with those specifying and operating AV systems in the corporate space fully embracing UX. The simplification and standardisation of user interfaces within organisations, alongside the introduction of satisfaction surveys and simple fault reporting and analysis, have made the adoption of UX a much smoother one within corporate AV. “In addition to the standard meeting rooms and auditoriums that have long been the mainstay of corporate AV, there has also been the introduction of customer experience centres and brand experience centres,” explains Smith. “These aim to provide customers and employees with an understanding of the central message and philosophy of an organisation, and the values that are important to that company.”

More than just a showroom selling particular products, experience centres immerse the visitor in the history and culture of organisations, in a similar way to visitor attractions in the themed entertainment and visitor attraction sectors – another marker as to why corporate is now embracing user experience.

It is extremely important that the design is separated from the hardware supply and installation, in order to ensure that the solution is right for the client" Christian Bozeat, macom GmbH 28

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ABOVE: AVMI believes the user experience can have a profound impact on productivity

“Within the corporate market, user experience is at the forefront of the majority of clients' AV requirements,” adds Watson. “User experience can be broken down into two categories; employee/ internal staff experience and client/visitor experience.

While the line between these experiences is becoming more blurred, there are still instances where clients want to create bespoke experiences to wow clients and visitors, and or to attract talent.”

“User experience is extremely important in corporate AV to ensure that users get the best out of the installed systems from a productivity and satisfaction perspective,” agrees Bozeat.

“There has been an increase in customer centres/ receptions and live events that apply a user-orientated attraction approach, and the reasons are sales, marketing and reputation driven. Companies want to be seen as progressive and technology focused.”

Experience creation is influencing the way that integrators approach AV technology and its uses, and they increasingly have to work more closely with stakeholders – including IT departments, of course – to ensure that customers, staff and associates are provided with the best possible user experience.

“From a consultant perspective, the ‘best possible AV experience’ is subjective and differs from client to client,” explains Watson. “For some clients the best AV experience means faultless audio and video quality during a conference; while for others the best AV experience comprises systems that work all the time every time, without the need for constant support.”

Early involvement According to PTS Consulting's Watson, it’s this subjectivity that highlights the need for and

Experience creation

Picture: macom GmbH

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ABOVE: According to macom, well-specified technology helps a company communicate the right message to clients and investors

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importance of early “consultant engagement”, allowing consultants to empathise with end users and help them to define requirements.

“Once true user requirements are understood, experiences can be designed with business objectives and strategy in mind,” he adds.

Bozeat agrees: “Integrators are trying to be a jack of all trades, and as they are not independent to the hardware they sell it is increasingly difficult to provide the quality of service that is demanded by clients.”

He opines that integrators often give away the design process “for free in order to win the hardware sales and installation for the project”, when they are not qualified to offer design services.

“It is extremely important that the design is separated from the hardware supply and installation, in order to ensure that the solution is right for the client and that the installation can be properly managed and signed off by qualified specialists – and not by the supplier of the hardware and installation. This can be done in-house if the correct skill sets exist, but is generally better if it is provided by an independent consultant, allowing the client to carry on with their day jobs and take a wider more strategic view.”

This emphasis on design, on the correct process as opposed to merely the choice of technology, is perhaps what sets experience creation apart from vanilla AV installation.

“The major difference in the approach is a greater emphasis on the mission of the project, rather than an immediate laser focus on performance

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specifications,” agrees Smith. “As a company, Shure has opened a number of experience centres around the world, and we have started from the point of thinking about the messages we want to convey to our visitors and the brand impression we want to provide – long before thinking about the actual technology.

“We draft a document which is provided to the whole project team, outlining these central aims to ensure that even contractors bidding on the diverse elements of the project are aware of what’s important to Shure as a customer.”

This isn’t to say that technology decisions are too far from the experience creation process, of course: it’s largely as a result of advancements in AV technology’s effectiveness and efficiency over the last few years that decent UX is even a possibility.

However, the user should never be too far away from the tech decision process.

“With every engagement, we have to consider every element of a user’s interaction with technology,” says AVMI’s Davidson. “How technology supports the objective through vision, audio and touch interaction creates the experience. Creating a consistent and positive user experience across multiple spaces, buildings and geographies is central to our philosophy.”

Good user experiences have the knock-on effect of improving technology adoption, as stakeholders raise their collective game. This results in an increase in the use of these UX solutions, leading to an increase in workforce productivity.

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“There is also an increase in the willingness to change and learn,” explains Watson, “and therefore a decrease in the requirement for support and hand holding.”

Journey planner A properly planned mapping process of the user’s technology journey enables the designs of UX solutions to more effectively meet the needs of the business, which is where the consultation process is key. It allows businesses to be better equipped to accelerate – with increased profits and reduced costs – and attract better staff.

“A proper PoC [proof of concept] process tests these designs and allows working process design and deployment to take place,” says Bozeat.

“Solutions that allow users to carry out their work more efficiently and effectively with technology that is easy to operate, and has a proper work process design, will help businesses retain staff and increase productivity.”

Davidson agrees: “Consistent, positive experience is the result of careful and consistent design and deployment. The benefits of consistency can be seen across many business functions, the result of designing with experience central to the philosophy.”

Done right, experience creation allows users to become familiar and confident with using technology across multiple environments, with meetings starting quickly and presentations effectively delivered.

Support teams are able to resolve issues quickly and effectively, and efficiencies of scale can be leveraged when looking to procure additional technology.

Ultimately UX allows businesses to present themselves as agile and professional.

“Good experience creation strengthens a brand, provides a clearer understanding of the aims of an organisation, and thereby attracts people who identify with the brand rather than simply responding to a job specification,” says Smith. “Assuming the organisation then lives up to the values it outlines as important to it, and provides a good user experience for users interacting with the technology within the organisation, productivity can be increased, leading to the potential of positive financial outcomes.”

Ultimately, while the corporate sector is perhaps currently enjoying peak experience creation in the deployment of AV technology, other sectors where AV is deployed could benefit also. Experience is important in all aspects of business and leisure, and successful companies are likely to be those that provide a positive experience for their customers.

“If a service or product does not have an associated positive brand impression or inspire loyalty by providing a good experience, the customer or visitor will make the choice to spend their money and time purely on price,” explains Smith.

Retail is certainly one of the sectors most focused on user experience, as the high street battles on multiple fronts, not least competition from online and falling consumer confidence.

“Retail is absolutely focused on the customer experience, and we expect to see accelerated technology investment in this sector moving forwards,” says Davidson. “Car dealerships are a great example of how using technology to create and visualise your own vehicle specification, at full scale, and even in virtual reality can be a hugely powerful tool in reinforcing a brand and attracting sales.”

Bozeat agrees: “Retail will certainly benefit from experiences, but other customer-centric spaces such as airports and train stations could benefit from the introduction of experience-based technology.”

While Watson believes that although the use of AV technology in retail is “nothing new”, the sector is “frequently pushing the boundaries” of its use. He also notes that user experience is a “hot topic” in higher education. “Many of our HE clients are looking to AV technology to attract new students, retain student interest during lectures and encourage attendance – not to mention improve learning and information retention.”

With corporate AV a hotbed for experience creation – arguably the best is yet to come – it won’t be too long before other sectors look to UX to help improve productivity and enrich lives, at work and play. www.avmi.com www.macom.de.en www.ptsconsulting.com www.shure.co.uk

Key Points • Enterprises have begun to focus on experiences as a way of ensuring improved productivity, demonstrating returns on investment and attracting the best talent • When it comes to UX, simplification and standardisation of interfaces are key • Good user experiences will help to improve technology adoption and mean systems are used more in the longer term • To create the best experiences, design should be separated from the hardware supply and installation

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Education

Freedom to teach Budget challenges notwithstanding, many primary and secondary schools are investing in technologies that can facilitate new methods of teaching, writes David Davies 32

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conomic constraints as a result of austerity measures mean that the past five years have been uniquely challenging for many UK primary and secondary schools. To pick just one example, the Education Policy Institute found that during the 2017-18 period half of all secondary academies and 60% of maintained secondary schools – in other words, those managed by local authorities – ended up spending more than they received, forcing them to draw upon their own reserves.

Despite this challenging context, schools have been obliged to grapple with what is surely the most radical technological transition to take place since the introduction of the interactive whiteboard. More and more, the name of the game is collaboration between students and teachers, with wireless-enabled technologies making it possible for everyone to enjoy plug and learn-style connectivity.

As head of product management at BenQ, Chris Goff, remarks: “With the movement from ‘chalk and

Education

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In our vision of the future learning space, the interactive flat panel has become the core element in the room" Toni Moss, CDEC

LEFT: CDEC worked on new learning facilities at Kensington Prep to support selfdirected learning and collaborative work

talk’ to front-of-class interactive presentation growing, teaching styles are becoming more collaborative than ever. Hence there is an increased demand for easy-touse wireless connectivity, which is complementary to the recent change in teaching styles.”

State of the market Among those who spoke to Installation , opinions on the current health of the education market in the UK are the subject of some variation. BenQ's Goff says: “We’re growing massively year-on-year and we’re seeing a shift in display sizes. In particular, secondary education is up-sizing to 75in and above, while higher education and universities are specifying 75-86in for seminar rooms and laser projection for lecture theatres.”

Peter Curtis, business development manager at POLAR, observes that in general terms the education market is “growing currently, but I am not sure for how long taking into account the current political factors affecting the UK, such as Brexit.”

John Dykes, business development director at Casio, suggests that an appetite for new technologies is continuing to provide commercial opportunities for vendors. “In light of budget cuts over the past 10 years it would be blinkered to say that the AV market [in education] is growing as rapidly as it was 15 or 20 years ago,” he says. “But, despite this, there has been a series of seismic shifts in the way educational institutions are using technology, such as the adoption of cloud computing and BYOD formats. Therefore, schools are looking for solutions which support these new environments, and it’s these areas which are growing.

Previously, this growth has mostly been in HE [higher education] institutions, but over the past few years as the price of technology has come down, schools have started to procure this equipment too.”

Aidan Crowe, group sales manager of AV design and integration company Pure AV, also alludes to the distinction between primary/secondary and higher education. “Income from tuition fees, overseas students and industry partners mean that the [HE] sector does not experience the same funding constraints found in compulsory education,” says Crowe. “Major funding pressures and a lack of necessary infrastructure make it more difficult for schools and colleges to invest in technology, resulting in a flat market for audiovisual equipment.”

Appetite for collaboration In those locations where spending on new technology is taking place, there is often a remarkable uniformity about the composition of investments. Given their centrality to modern educational practices, it’s no surprise to discover that interactive and higherresolution screens, including those supporting 4K, often head schools’ shopping lists. But with the amount of student-generated digital content also rising, many schools are considering investments in digital signage, as well as new entry/sign-in systems that correspond with regulations concerning data protection. Moreover,

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as awareness of the potential of fully integrated, IP-based infrastructures improves, schools are increasingly seeking solutions that will be able to sit satisfactorily on the same centralised network.

“Collaborative products seem to be [a prominent current trend], as do AV-IP solutions,” says Curtis.

“Many of these products share the network, so it seems that AV is aligning ever closer to the IT/network sector.”

Dykes echoes the above sentiments – “the key areas are connectivity, collaboration and BYOD” – while emphasising that “in conversations we’ve had with teachers, the number one thing they want from AV equipment is simplicity. It’s all about being able to walk into a room, regardless of whether you’ve used it before, and connect as quickly and easily as possible so that the lesson can get underway. This means an extensive range of connectivity options suitable for a variety of different devices, as well as intuitive interfaces which are easy to use."

“In schools,” Dykes continues, “the focus is on technologies which engage pupils in new ways or create a more participatory classroom dynamic. It’s

ABOVE: De Montfort University has deployed Solstice Pods in more than 50 rooms for small group workshopstyle activities

Rooms of lower and lower occupancy are requiring an AV system, while larger spaces are requiring larger and more complicated solutions" Ben Spurgeon, Audiologic 34

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also about using technology to differentiate curriculum so that there are different avenues for pupils to access the information. This means specifying technology which is visual, interactive and encourages sharing.”

Inevitably, configurations vary considerably depending on class sizes and individual schools’ requirements, but Toni Moss, managing director of CDEC, shares one 'vision' of the classroom that is likely to become increasingly commonplace over the next few years. “In our vision of the future learning space, the interactive flat panel has become the core element in the room with a built-in switcher/scaler, on-board highspec PC with i5 or i7 processor, and a mobile device management platform that allows a help-desk agent or field technician to broker a live remote session with the display from anywhere in the world, install software, and apply policy to one or all screens.”

Investments and market intelligence Despite the financial context in which many schools currently operate, many contributors report good levels of business from both upgrades and brand-new installs.

Ben Spurgeon is senior application engineer at Audiologic. “Installation projects include many of both new and upgraded systems,” he says. “Rooms of lower and lower occupancy are requiring an AV system, while larger spaces are requiring larger and more complicated solutions to deliver the required content.

We are seeing an increasing demand for surround sound within lecture theatres, which takes systems to a more immersive level. As the audio playback systems develop, we are also seeing requirements for dedicated speech reinforcement systems to accompany the upgraded content solution.”

Dykes observes that “while conventional classrooms are mostly upgrading, new installs are flourishing for new room types. This includes meeting spaces, collaboration spaces for group work, and breakout

Feature

Education

‘An alarming disparity’

ABOVE: Mersive recently announced that the University of Warwick has expanded its deployment of Mersive Solstice Pods to over 90 units

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areas designed to encourage group discussion. In terms of procurement, this translates to ultra-short throw projectors designed for smaller spaces, interactive flat panel displays, and technology which is easy to connect and share with.”

Curtis is among many who believes that education investments tend to be split “fairly evenly between new installs and upgrades”. In terms of whether those in the education sector now have a deeper understanding of new technologies, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

“Educational technologists, AV managers and IT departments are more informed about products and services offered by manufacturers,” he says. “They have an extensive knowledge of networking and how the products they employ need to satisfy their customer base. Extensive training needs to be offered, and product demonstrations have to be more sophisticated as they are involving more than just the AV manager. Questions they tend to ask involve networking and cloud usage as well as functionality.”

Education customers “certainly know what they want in terms of features and demands for great value, as well as the freedom to teach the way they want,” says Goff, who cites an example of how BenQ has responded to a specific teaching requirement: “We made a conscious decision to make our software agnostic, which has allowed schools to use Google, specialist apps or their own established ecosystem, while also benefiting from bringing new teaching and learning technologies into the school environment.”

As the baseline level of knowledge among education professionals rises, it follows that AV companies must ensure they are always one step ahead of the latest developments in communicating to potential clients.

For example, says Spurgeon, “we like to ensure that we can provide an extensive range of documents to help

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Aidan Crowe, group sales manager of Pure AV, highlights a concerning discrepancy in the education market when it comes to new technologies…

“There are still schools and colleges being built and generating demand for new installations, but the more significant part of the activity within compulsory education is centred around the upgrade and replacement of legacy equipment.

Many schools have not upgraded their classroom display technology in the last five years or have done so on an ad-hoc basis, as hardware has failed.

“The result is an alarming disparity between the equipment available to teachers within the same school environment, with different display equipment used in different classrooms. Within the university space, there is a significant focus on the provision of a standard teaching environment across the estate; many schools would love to be able to replicate this level of consistency across the classrooms within their own building.”

support our proposals, such as acoustic maps and schematics, further detailing the performance of the systems we have put forward. Developments in software allow us to keep expanding upon this, with more accurate acoustic simulations being possible with current iterations of software.”

Emerging requirements At the risk of making a crude summary, one main expectation is for ‘more of the same, only more so’ in terms of schools’ AV requirements over the next few years. So collaborative tools and improved display and audio solutions will feature prominently, along with one or two newer technologies such as voice control.

As well as its ability to make day-to-day learning more flexible, Moss highlights AV over IP’s ability to “facilitate distance learning, lecture capture, create breakout spaces, live-stream events, and allow the help-desk a live view of what is on-screen during a lecture, facilitating support. Meanwhile, voice control is also on the horizon and we can enable this on control interfaces via Amazon Alexa. Room users instruct Alexa to power on the AV, select an input source, control the volume, and switch off at the end of the session.”

Effective operation and management of the core network infrastructure will only become more critical, and with the number and range of online threats continuing to grow, schools will be obliged to devote more time and resources to security. “Use of products

Education on the IT network and cloud usage – whether it’s switching, sharing information across multiple classrooms over a campus, or distance learning – are only going to become more prevalent,” says Curtis.

“Security is a must, and if cloud usage is a factor with these products [customers will want to be assured that they are accompanied by] the highest security measures available.”

But as much as the classrooms of the future will be shaped by the development of new technology, they will also be informed by an evolving curriculum and different teaching practices. So as well as remarking that “BYOD will continue to grow”, Dykes suggests that “in the schools the focus is going to be all about technology which supports the curriculum effectively.

The curriculum is already shifting towards one which focuses on cultivating soft skills such as leadership, teamwork and problem-solving. As an industry we need to produce technology which supports the development of these skills.”

Encouragingly, there is every indication that vendors and integrators are managing to satisfy both current educational needs and help schools look forward confidently with solutions that will accommodate the probable classroom requirements of the future.

Feature

Key Points • The increasing level of collaboration between teachers and students has made wireless technologies more prominent • Budget cuts have had a bigger impact on compulsory education and has, to an extent, stunted the growth of AV in education over the last 10 years • What remains important is that AV equipment is as simple as possible for teachers to use

www.audiologic.uk www.benq.com www.casio-projectors.eu www.cdec.co.uk www.polar.uk.com www.pureav.co.uk

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The right medicine An intelligent building designed to assimilate four facilities across Cambridge into ‘One Global HQ’ has a focus on agile working and collaboration, finds Olivia Brady

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stablished in 1998, Abcam is a life sciences ecommerce business that boasts a catalogue of more than 100,000 products.

Inspired by Amazon, Abcam allows researchers to click, search and order the antibodies they need for their experiments. From humble beginnings 21 years ago, Abcam has grown into a multi-billion dollar unicorn, shipping orders to over 140 countries and offers multilingual technical support.

In 2016, the need for a new 100,000sqft headquarters became evidently necessary in order to bring employees from all four Cambridge sites under one roof. A site on Discovery Drive, part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC) UK, was chosen, creating spin off opportunities – CBC is the largest life science research hub in Europe, housing global pharmaceutical and life sciences companies.

To support Abcam’s continued growth, the new building provides 75% more space, including fully flexible laboratory configurations, new instrumentation and technology for enhanced scientific capabilities. It is fully equipped for agile working and provides introvert and extrovert workspaces.

In addition, the building has been developed to meet

Abcam Cambridge Biomedical Campus

global sustainability standards, help protect the natural environment and enhance employee wellbeing.

In order to facilitate the move, Abcam sought a reliable, long-term partner with an international delivery capability, so leading integrator Snelling Business Systems was called on to provide the necessary support.

Steve Royans, sales director at the global integrator, says: “The Abcam HQ fit-out was not a oneoff investment when you look at the bigger picture.

Bids were invited for a highly competitive tender process and while technical competency and professionalism was paramount, Abcam was also evaluating bids with the objective of identifying and securing a long-term working relationship; a reliable partner to deliver standardised, single-source AV fitouts across global sites as they scale and expand international operations.

“We focused on our commitment and capability to think and act as an AV partner, as well as the reach and efficiency of our PSNI Global Alliance network to deliver their long-term vision.”

Encouraging collaboration By bringing all employees together, including R&D, laboratory, logistics, corporate and commercial functions, Abcam wanted to enhance open collaboration between teams to improve efficiency and innovation.

AV technology was central to achieving this. Royans adds: “The brief covered the integration of AV solutions in 37 meeting rooms designed for informal, face-to-face interactions between small and mid-sized groups, conference rooms designed for larger groups with more advanced conferencing and collaboration requirements, building-wide IPTV and signage, room booking systems, interactive wayfinding and a wide range of other spaces.”

Abcam also required robust tools and automation for AV resource management through integrations into a back-end platform. The entire building AV infrastructure had to be built on AVoIP to allow greater flexibility and rationalise operating costs.

In addition, intelligent building management was critical given the vast amount of technology in the building – AV had to be fully integrated into Abcam’s IT and BMS network – a solution for all connected technologies (including AV, lighting, energy, voice and data, security, room scheduling, HVAC systems, and more) across the enterprise to be monitored, managed and controlled from a centralised dashboard to increase operational efficiencies.

Royans elaborates: “At the time of award, the project featured one of the largest Crestron NVX deployments in the UK. Abcam management are also provided with AV resource management tools to track

and improve sustainability. This automation system ties into a back-end platform with energy statistics, keeping records on usage of equipment in each room.

This helps encourage energy efficiency initiatives and enhance employee wellbeing.”

Moving in A pilot group moved into the building in January 2019 when the board held its first meeting at the new HQ. Then came the meticulously planned move of people and equipment.

Nick Skinner, senior vice president at Abcam, comments: “It was a seamless transition, you packed up your things in a crate on the Friday and you arrived on Monday for a tour and induction with our ‘Move Makers’. You took the things from your crate and within minutes you were working.”

The first order, to Australia, was shipped on time by 2pm on the Monday of the move. It was a tangible sign of the extraordinary efficiency with which Abcam can now operate out of the purpose-built HQ, and which informed the design and plans of the building.

The transition was also enhanced by the fact that AV design and integration kept the end user in mind.

Royans adds: “The new HQ has a plethora of one-toone rooms, informal spaces, hot desk areas and soundproofed meeting rooms that allow easy connection to colleagues and clients around the world.

Most meeting spaces are named after key people in the history of Abcam and the Cambridge science community – there’s Milner, Cleevely, Milstein, Köhler."

The open areas and office floors have been transformed into destinations where staff and visitors can interact intuitively, featuring technology such as interactive wayfinding stations and distributed digital signage and IPTV. In addition, workspaces are equipped with wired and wireless content sharing capabilities.

Solutions

ABOVE: Larger spaces have a more advanced communication and collaboration setup LEFT: Some 37 rooms were created for small and mediumsized meetings, each featuring an NEC display and Crestron control

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Solutions

Abcam Cambridge Biomedical Campus

RIGHT: Digital wayfinding has been introduced around the building

Meeting rooms In total, 37 glass-walled meeting rooms meet the requirements of informal, face-to-face interactions between small and mid-sized groups of between two and eight people. Each includes NEC displays and speakers for presentation as well as Crestron room booking screens with status illumination and Crestron touchpanels with room environmental controls. On the audio side, there are QSC 6.5in twoway low-profile ceiling speakers, Shure MXA310B table microphones and Crestron amplification.

There is also integration with lighting PIR to release the room in the event of no-show.

It was assessment of meeting room usage combined with insights from user interviews that informed this approach – increasing demand for spaces to conduct come-and-go, informal meetings.

The 8PAX rooms, however, are equipped to provide spaces for inter-department collaboration, brainstorming and conferencing. They include 65in NEC Infinity Boards, OPS Slot PC, QSC PTZ cameras and network AV bridge and Shure MXA310 table array microphones.

The camera video is combined with a microphone connection for BYOD or resident PC Skype conferencing. For a simple user connection to the room camera and sound for BYOD calls, a single retractable USB connection from the table-top cable cubby is available.

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To either drive a Skype call from the OPS slot PC or their own device, a Crestron USB extender attached to the rear of the display bracket enables slot PC-driven calls to connect with the room microphone and loudspeakers when user mode selection from the unified touchscreen controller is made.

Integrated with the room-booking system, invited meeting participants are emailed a snapshot of the whiteboard surface after the meeting concludes.

The wall-mounted Kaptivo camera with a framed view of the whiteboard surface captures a ‘snapshot’ when the user selects the option on the Crestron touchpanel, which can then be shared with participants over email.

Conference rooms Three standardised conference rooms, designed for larger groups (up to 16), have been equipped with more advanced conferencing and collaboration kit.

These rooms have an attached break-out space separated by a divisible wall, and with full AV support.

In addition to the equipment in the meeting rooms, the conference rooms also include two 84in NEC Infinity Boards supported by two NEC 55in FHD displays for breakout, two Bose Panaray MA12-EX speakers supported by three QSC 6.5in two-way pendant speakers in the break-out space and a QSC PTZ camera.

Users can select the room-mode from the touchpanels – ‘Room Open’ mode enables the 55in

Solutions

Abcam Cambridge Biomedical Campus

reinforcement displays to provide presentation content to users in the break-out area. In ‘Room Closed’ mode, reinforcement displays switch to digital signage and audio is switched off.

The system allows two user sources independently routed to each of the main displays, and reinforcement displays directly reflect the content source available on the main left and right displays respectively.

Other areas include a games room, used by staff and visitors for entertainment – such as foosball, pool, table tennis as well as gaming consoles and laptop inputs configured for use with the AV setup of the room. There are also two laboratory meeting rooms – one for four people, the other for up to 10 – enabling small and large group meetings and videoconferencing.

The logistics office features wall-mounted distributed displays for key performance indicators relevant to the Abcam logistics operations within the Laboratory block.

The facility also includes a mobile presentation system for greater flexibility in space utilisation and impromptu get-togethers; this can be wheeled into any location.

Installed Video • Exterity AvediaPlayer r9300 receiver and ArtioSign signage client • Future Automation AM display wall mount • Kaptivo camera • NEC 84in Infinity Boards and 55in FHD displays • NEC MultiSync P484 SST • QSC PTZ cameras Control • Crestron 7in room booking screen • Crestron 7in room control touch panel • Crestron AVoIP DigitalMedia NVX decoder encoder Audio • Bose Panaray MA12-EX speakers • Crestron amplification • QSC I/O8 Flex • QSC pendant speakers • Shure MXA310B and MXA310 table

Wayfinding and IPTV Wayfinding stations at multiple locations around the building provide high-resolution graphic floor maps for visitors and staff to navigate their way around the building. The interface allows the user to find facilities on any floor, such as selecting ‘WC’ to highlight the location of the nearest toilets, or ‘meeting rooms’ to clearly indicate with location drop symbols the names/numbers of the meeting rooms on the floor. When a room or facility is selected, a travel line is traced for the user to navigate from their current location.

NEC MultiSync P484 SSTs with an OPS Slot PC were deployed at designated locations. The Snelling programming team collaborated with the Abcam communications and branding teams on this.

Finally, an Exterity IPTV system distributes television signals to specified rooms/areas in the building including meeting rooms, public and recreation areas. Digital signal feeds from roof-level satellite/aerials are relayed to a break-out splice box within the core AV rack of the Main Equipment Room, where it is split to provide coaxial input to card-based encoders. The IPTV/digital signage server unit distributes TV channels and digital signage content across the LAN to concealed receiver boxes behind displays or via software decoders as specified around the building.

All in all, the project has been a huge success. Ian Smith, IT project manager at Abcam, says: “I have no hesitation in stating that this has been the most

inspirational development project we have undertaken with AV and we look forward to growing the relationship and technology delivery to our other offices. It was a real pleasure to work with such a diligent professional team of individuals.” https://pro.bose.com www.crestron.com www.exterity.com www.futureautomation.co.uk www.kaptivo.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.psni.org www.qsc.com www.shure.co.uk www.snellingbiz.com

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Cultural fusion An Indian cultural jewel, the National Centre for Performing Arts has raised its audio standards to match its architectural and artistic status, writes Tom Bradbury ABOVE: The largest of the five spaces is the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre

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S

itting at the tip of Nariman Point in bustling Mumbai, the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) is unique in India.

As the home of the Symphony Orchestra of India and a focal point for the arts, the NCPA celebrates both Indian and western culture, presenting an eclectic programme of music, theatre, opera, dance, film and spoken word performance.

The NCPA dates from 1969 and has since grown across an eight-acre site. Today its five performance spaces range from the 1,100-seat Jamshed Bhabha Theatre and 1,000-seat Tata Theatre, to the smaller Experimental Theatre with its 267 moveable seats, the Godrej Dance Theatre with a capacity of 177, and the smallest, The Little Theatre, seating just 112.

All five spaces have been acoustically treated to the highest standard. The Tata Theatre, for example, is the work of renowned American modernist architect Philip Johnson and legendary acoustician

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Cyril Harris, designed to host classical music and theatre without amplification.

Meeting expectations Despite its architectural and cultural status, until recently the NCPA had virtually no permanently installed sound systems, other than a small handful of loudspeakers. For the venue’s technical team, providing sound reinforcement of a standard to meet the expectations of NCPA’s patrons was often a struggle.

“We used to have to bring in external sound, hiring in systems from various vendors in the city,” explains Ashwin Jyoti, NCPA’s head live sound engineer. “With different vendors we would have different kinds of equipment – not all of the same standard. It would depend on the budget that each of the programming teams would have and how much they could spend on sound.”

The National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai

Solutions

When in 2017 the decision was taken to invest in permanent sound reinforcement solutions for the Experimental Theatre and the Little Theatre, the brief was simple. “The whole point of this investment was to standardise how the NCPA sounds,” says Jyoti. “No matter what the show is, the source is the same; it doesn’t keep changing with each vendor and each engineer.”

A sound investment In their search for a solution, the NCPA considered several sound reinforcement brands, however, one stood out, as Ashwin explains: “One of the biggest reasons that we decided to choose the d&b system is the quality of the after-sales service that would be available. This was very important.”

The d&b audiotechnik sales partner in India is Ansata, an audio solutions specialist based in Bengaluru in southern India, but with branch offices in all major cities, Mumbai included. “We already knew d&b sounded good,” says Jyoti, “but we were very secure in knowing that if we bought this system, we would always have Ansata behind us. No matter what time of day or night, we knew we’d get a good response, and a quick response.”

Working closely with Ansata, and with support from Gert Sanner at the d&b Asia Pacific office, Jyoti developed system designs for the two spaces. So as not to interrupt the day-to-day running of the NCPA, Jyoti and the Ansata team installed the loudspeakers in a series of short shifts planned around performances. “We didn’t have an extended period where we could concentrate on the installation,” adds Jyoti. “So we would put up one side, then wait maybe five days while shows would be going on, and then we’d put up the other side, and then the cabling.

All while running shows with vendor sound.”

Little and Experimental The Little Theatre received a simple left/right system consisting of a single d&b V10P point source loudspeaker complemented by a groundstacked, cardioid V-GSUB per side.

Additional fill for the small space was provided with a Yi10P point source as a centre fill and two E6 loudspeakers as front fills. For stage monitoring, four d&b M4 wedges are available. Amplification is driven by the d&b 30D installation amplifier.

The system for the Experimental Theatre presented a different challenge. “Here you can have seating on all three sides, or on all four sides, or the

stage can change from one place to another,” states Jyoti. “You can do anything you want as far as seating is concerned. To be able to install a system that would address all possible seating arrangements, I worked with d&b to make sure that we could do this in as well covered a manner as possible.”

The system they designed for the Experimental Theatre featured four V10P point source loudspeakers, complemented by the controlled cardioid performance of a pair of V-SUBs, and four E6 cabinets serving as out/front fills. Here, six d&b M4 monitors are available for the stage. As with the Little Theatre, amplification is provided by D20 for the main system and monitoring.

Notably, the installation at NCPA was the first ever d&b V-Series point source installation in India.

Since commissioning, comments have been extremely positive. “Just in the two months since we started working with the new installed system, some of the best theatre production companies and some of the best sound engineers in India have come and worked with the system and they have been very impressed,” says Jyoti. “Everybody is happy with the changes.”

Best of all, patrons’ complaints about the sound have stopped entirely. “The NCPA is a venue where, the people who come here are extremely sensitive to what it should be, how it should sound, and what it should look like,” says Jyoti. “Before, we used to have lots of complaints about the sound quality, but in the last two months we have had none.”

ABOVE: The project was the first ever d&b V-Series point source installation in India

www.ansata.net www.dbaudio.com

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Solutions in Brief

Christie manages visuals at One Times Square One Times Square, one of the world’s most valuable advertising locations, has launched its 350ft-high unified north wall featuring Prismview outdoor displays driven by the Christie Spyder X80 multi-windowing processor.

Above the new unified north face sign are three additional discrete displays: the top two are 16mm LED video screens while the lower display is 10mm. The Christie Spyder X80 controls the displays at One Times Square driving a pixel count that tops 11 million. If desired, content can encompass all screens to form one giant canvas.

The prominent unified north face replaced multiple LED screens with a single 8mm display, which now boasts a resolution of 7,380 pixels high by 1,312 wide.

Christie worked with Prismview on the system design and met with members of the WOW Factor content creation team months in advance to test a preconfigured Spyder. Testing was done with special high-level digital art content to make sure the first day of commissioning provided a spectacular impression. Unlike the typical start up, this one was photographed by the 500,000 people who pass through the market every day. www.christiedigital.com

Harman helps university create user-friendly meeting rooms Distributor avt and systems integrator ProAV South Australia have deployed a range of AMX by Harman video distribution and automation solutions to create immersive and user-friendly meeting and conference rooms at the University of Adelaide.

The university wanted to make the new rooms capable of displaying the contents of a local desktop or laptop on a large LCD connected to an OPS PC. Additionally, the system needed to offer support for desktop conferencing. In order to achieve these goals a range of AMX solutions, including NetLinx NX controllers, Hydraport connection ports and Solecis digital switchers, were deployed.

In each room, the integrators deployed an AMX NX-1200 NetLinx Integrated Controller, and a programmable network appliance specifically designed to control AV systems and building technology. An AMX Solecis digital switcher offers five user-connection points plus simplified local control for routing signals to DXLink and HDMI outputs. www.harman.com

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Solutions in Brief

National Arts Centre completes $110m refit Based in Ottawa, Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) has been serving the performing arts since 1969. As part of a recent $110 million overhaul, integrators Engineering Harmonics were hired to design a comprehensive AV system that would service the centre’s needs for the next 15 years and beyond. The project required upgrades to three performance spaces – Southam Hall, the Babs Asper Theatre and the Azrieli Studio – and included mixing consoles, speakers, amplifiers, DSP, intercom and a digital fibre optic network provided by Optocore.

The NAC purchased 54 Optocore units deployed across the three networks. Each venue was designed to have its own dedicated network, with a mix of permanently installed Optocore devices and mobile racks that could be moved freely between connection points in a venue or from one venue to another to accommodate larger shows where additional I/O was required. The Optocore system in each venue is a mix of DD32R-FX, X6R-FX and X6R-TP interfaces, configured for AES and analogue audio, with additional DD4MR-FX units for MADI distribution. www.optocore.com

The Warehouse Sound Services provided an advanced audio solution for Edinburgh International Festival’s (EIF) spectacular opening event. Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event: LA Phil at Tynecastle celebrated the start of the 2019 event and was attended by a capacity crowd of 15,000 people.

The concert from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel, celebrated Hollywood film music and led to the creation of a stage replicating the Hollywood Bowl, where the LA Phil perform every summer, in Tynecastle Park, home to Hearts football club.

The Warehouse has worked with the International Festival for nearly three decades. This year, it provided an Adamson loudspeaker system consisting of E15 line array loudspeakers on main left and right hangs, S10 loudspeakers for under hangs, S7 for front and side fills and E119 sub bass loudspeakers all powered with Lab Gruppen amplifiers running Lake Processing. The show was mixed on a DiGiCo SD10. Microphones included over 60 Neumann KM184 as well as a selection of DPA, Shure and Sennheiser. www.warehousesound.co.uk

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© Picture Gaelle Beri

Warehouse Sound raises the bar at EIF opening

Solutions in Brief

First cruise ship LED install for Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas, the first ship of the Quantum Ultra Class for Royal Caribbean International, features new technologies brought to life by tennagels Medientechnik GmbH, including the first LED installation on a cruise ship.

The Main Dining Room features on two levels a virtual colonnade, each 16m-long, which is adapted to themes and moods by various video animations. This special effect is created on LED walls specially made for these corridors.

Both concave and convex curved LED screens with a pixel pitch of 1.9mm and a luminance of 700 Nits provide high resolution for the changing video content.

On each deck, the LED wall consists of a 4.75m-long straight section and 11.5m curved section, both with a height of more than two metres. Identical sections are installed on the left and right side of the entry corridor.

The straight section of this installation offers a resolution of 2,432x1,088 pixels, while the curved section has a resolution of 5,888x1,088 pixels. All modules are mounted on a custom-made frame.

Inside the Main Dining Room, two additional curved

LED walls in the lounge corners at the opposite end of the hall help to create a special atmosphere for the guests. The identical screens have a length of eight metres, a height of one metre and a resolution of 4,096x512 pixels.

The total of 155sqm of LED surface of the four walls in the entrance areas and the two walls in the lounge corners are specially coated and washable. www.tennagels.com

Moscow troupe selects Optoma for classical immersive experience Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow recently called on Optoma ahead of an immersive multimedia performance by Škola Crew.

The concert hall, which opened in the Russian capital in September 2018, already had a Christie Digital Systems Boxer 4K30 projector installed above the stage but the group needed two additional projectors for the concert hall side walls to create the fully immersive visual experience around the audience. Škola Crew chose two of Optoma’s high brightness projectors to beam the vibrant imagery across the side walls – the ZU506 laser projector and the 6,000 lumen WUXGA large venue projector, the WU515T. The group selected these models largely due to the high flexibility of projection settings. Their wide optical zoom range and lens shift meant it was possible to position these in the optimal spot to be inconspicuous yet guarantee the imagery was projected to exactly the right place.

The concert was a huge success, according to Alexandra Stefanova, pianist and the team leader at Škola Crew, who said: “We showed the programme in

full mode: projected animations on the back stage wall and on the sides. The projectors’ combination of compact chassis, low noise and high brightness allowed Škola Crew to achieve bright, vibrant imagery, while the projectors did not attract attention or distract the audience from the performance." www.optoma.co.uk

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Technology

Product of the Month

KIT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

Product of the month

Lab Gruppen CA Series It’s… a new series of commercial installation amplifiers What’s new? This Energy Star Certified range has been introduced as a costeffective solution for bars, restaurants, corporate environments, retail destinations, hotels and many other applications where background music or PA systems are needed.

Details: Lab Gruppen’s design conserves energy and reduces ownership costs.

The CA series amplifiers have a flexible power scheme with automatic power on/ off based on the input signal, which reduces consumption when a signal is not present.

These amplifiers are convection

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cooled, eliminating fan noise and making the system silent for sensitive environments. They are offered in 60W, 120W and 240W, with each version available in one or two channels.

For installers, the CA series are easyto-install amps that facilitate faster installations, reduced costs and increased efficiency. The amplifiers offer flexible mounting options with included brackets for surface mounting and various rack-mounting configurations.

This adds extensive flexibility as a single product and can be housed in a half 19in rack or full-rack enclosure. Connectivity is also flexible with a balanced line input and parallel mono-sum RCA. A front panel master volume and bass/treble control makes it easy to adjust settings.

The CA series can also incorporate a remote volume control with Lab Gruppen’s CRC-V series of wall control accessories. The CRC-V is equipped with a single volume control knob, with integrated illumination, and an RJ-45 connector for use with any CAT5 or CAT6 cables in a single-gang/EU wall enclosure format.

The CA series Commercial Install amplifiers can accommodate a wide range of applications, such as a single 8 Ohm speaker per channel, dual 8 Ohms speakers or a 4 Ohm load per channel, a line of 70V or 100V high-impedance speakers with transformer tappings, subwoofer and satellite set in 8 Ohms mode, two-channel models driving two zones. They are also well suited to be used alongside Tannoy install loudspeakers.

Available: October 2019 www.labgruppen.com

Product focus

Logitech Room Solutions for Google Meet Mark Childerhouse, sales director at Pioneer Group, espouses the usability benefits of this range of Google Meet solutions What environments do you typically install Logitech Room Solutions for Google Meet?

This is the perfect meeting or huddle room product for businesses using the Google 365 platform. It’s the most advanced of the Google Meet solutions for the meeting space so far and it's available in small, medium and large configurations.

Using different infrastructure options the Logitech Room Solutions for Google Meet come pre-configured with a Googleapproved Chromebox, a Logitech conferencecam, a Chromebox mount with cable retention and the Logitech Tap touch controller.

Why do you specify this product over competitor offerings?

This is a product from Logitech with direct collaboration from Google. It’s been created by two of the world’s foremost technology companies who are continuously developing the future of

videoconferencing. If you use Google Meet, then this will be a seamless experience for your meeting, which is as intuitive on your device as it is on your desktop.

What are the most impressive elements of its feature set?

The star component of the suite is the Rally Camera. It features a 4K sensor and PTZ, plus USB connectivity to ensure it’s compatible with every leading videoconferencing software platform with no additional software required. It also uses the Logitech RightSight camera control, which automatically moves and adjusts the lens to frame participants regardless of the room size, as well as the Logitech RightLight technology to optimise light balance.

The camera can be used on its own as an independent USB camera or integrated with a range of Rally accessories such as microphone pods,

Technology

wall speakers, mounting kits and a clever cable management solution. Bundled together these make the perfect out-of-the-box solutions for small, medium and large meeting rooms, the Room Solution can connect to your call at a single touch.

What elements of the feature set make your job easier?

Systems arrive ready for installation, so our teams can quickly configure bundles and do multiple rooms on site in a day.

The fact that the previous Logitech and Google products are similar in their controls will also help users to quickly familiarise themselves. The products are also designed for the Google Meet ecosystem, which easily integrate into the existing IT backbone.

If an updated version of this product was to be released, what upgrades would you like to see?

These products are perfectly crafted for how people choose to collaborate now. As most meetings are between two people with remote participants, its set-up is easy and quick to use preventing wasted time at the start of the meeting. The area which will develop rapidly will be the software elements of the product, which will reflect the development of the consumer market in audio and picture quality. www.logitech.com www.pioneergroup.co.uk

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Technology

Showcase

Steerable speakers

Offering improved directivity and enhanced sound reproduction, steerable speakers are suitable for a number of environments, from houses of worship to sports stadiums. We take a look at some of the latest offerings

Flexibility and precision from Meyer Sound Designed primarily for vocal reproduction in fixed installations, including retail, airports, houses of worship, sport, corporate and education, CAL loudspeakers boast a variable vertical beam spread – as narrow as 5º and as wide as 30º – that can be digitally steered up or down by 30º.

CAL is available in three models, each providing a different output level — up to a maximum peak SPL of 106dB at 90m with CAL 96 — over an operating frequency range of 100Hz to 16kHz. Providing a horizontal coverage of 120º, as well as the flexibility of vertical beam steering, a single CAL is said to deliver clear vocal reproduction over a large area while minimising undesirable reflections.

CAL loudspeakers include an AVBenabled Ethernet port that accepts AVB audio streams as source signals, and also provides computer control of CAL via Meyer Sound’s Compass control software, which allows beam control and RMS real time monitoring of each loudspeaker on the network.

Flexible mounting options allow users to mount CAL loudspeakers against walls or columns, and custom colours ensure they will blend into any background. Weather protection is standard and permits outdoor installations, making it easy to integrate CAL into any environment. www.meyersound.com

K-array is right on target K-array’s Firenze-KH7 is a compact loudspeaker with a high-power density in a sleek frame. The selfpowered line array element features four 12in coaxial neodymium magnet woofers and produces a peak output of 141dB SPL for even coverage. An integrated Class D amplifier delivers 4 x 2,000W at 4Ohms.

The Firenze-KH7 has an adjustable 100° by 30° horn to select a wide or narrow sound 50

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emission and dedicated joining and hanging accessories for different configurations, including vertical and horizontal cluster arrays.

More than ever before, owners require a flexible audio system for their multi-functional venues and the KH7’s ability to electronically steer the acoustics allows users to direct the sound beam to concentrate the audio in a targeted area to adapt to any layout in a large venue. The sound performance is

maximised with the ability to precisely and independently control each element of the KH7 array, eliminating noise pollution.

The KH7 is suitable for live sound, touring, nightclubs and auditoriums. www.k-array.com

Technology

Showcase

MSA12X rises to the challenge Launched in 2018, the Bose Professional Panaray MSA12X modular steerable array loudspeaker is designed for use in houses of worship, auditoriums, museums, transportation facilities, lecture halls, conference facilities and theatres.

It features a slim, unobtrusive acoustic design with 12 full-range 2.25in transducers (with 75Hz-17kHz response) in a columnar line array configuration, to provide consistent audio levels with, what the company says is, outstanding vocal intelligibility and full-range music reinforcement in acoustically challenging spaces.

The self-powered MSA12X uses 12 internal power amplifiers (50W per channel; total 600W rated power) and onboard DSP to allow digital control and beam steering of array vertical coverage patterns. The proprietary Articulated Array driver

arrangement allows 160º horizontal coverage. Independent level and EQ control is supported for two separate beams per array, and onboard memory stores up to 10 user-selectable presets. It features both Dante network connectivity and line-level analogue input.

The modular design allows up to three MSA12X units to be vertically arrayed to increase coverage distance and lowfrequency pattern control.

The slim, low-profile enclosure mounts close to surfaces, blending in with the visual aesthetic of a space, and its digital control eliminates protruding pitch brackets. An integrated mounting bracket allows up to 90° horizontal pivot away from surfaces.

Design, setup and control of beam coverage is provided by Bose Modeler and ControlSpace software. The MSA12X is available in either black or white finish and is paintable. https://pro.bose.com

Active Audio takes a step forward STEPARRAY from Active Audio is an electronic steerable column loudspeaker available in several heights from 1m (range up to 20m) to 4m (range up to 90m). Designed to obtain high speech intelligibility in reverberant places such as houses of worship, railway stations and airports, it is also suitable for conference rooms when used with an optional subwoofer. The + version with Dante inputs allows STEPARRAY to be compatible with the high technology audio networks.

STEPARRAY is based on the patented DGRC (Digital and Geometric, Radiation Control) technology. The main principle of this technology is to arrange loudspeakers into tilted groups (steps). According to Active Audio, the tilted steps offer improved coverage and easier set up of the column. Control is made via the steps and as a consequence, fewer amplifier channels and processors are needed. www.activeaudio.fr

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Last word

Championing diversity and inclusivity Kevin McLoughlin speaks to Duncan Proctor about the strides being made in the push for equal opportunities, but says there’s still plenty more to be done 52

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Do you think the growing awareness of diversity and inclusion in AV is a direct result of discussions being had by people within the industry or as a consequence of the wider debate around these issues?

I think the discussion is inevitably part of the wider rise in awareness within society; however, because of the marked disparity in diversity within the AV industry it has hit a chord with many people and there is a swell of momentum from all sides of the AV community. The AVIXA Diversity Council is playing its part by organising events, educational seminars and creating a focus at major industry shows such as InfoComm and ISE. Council members cover all areas of diversity, beyond gender and ethnicity, to include other under-represented groups such as those with a disability, LGBT, age, socio-economic, autism and more.

Last word To what extent do you think people in the AV industry and beyond are aware of the benefits diversity brings?

I don’t think there is any argument over the legal and moral reasons behind creating opportunities for all people who represent the wider society we live in.

The financial benefits and positive effect on productivity and creativity may well be less known.

A recent Boston Consulting Group study revealed tech companies that reported above-average diversity on their management teams also reported innovation revenue that was 19 percentage points higher than that of companies with below-average leadership diversity.

Companies can only benefit from creating a workforce that reflects their customer demographic, it means that they are in an ideal position to deliver diverse solutions that may never come from a nondiverse team suffering with groupthink.

What recent changes have you noticed around diversity and inclusion in AV? Groups such as Women in AV and AVIXA Women have gained a lot more traction recently despite being around for several years. At InfoComm the AVIXA Women’s breakfast had an attendance over 400 and a recent Women in AV event in central London well over 50. The atmosphere and feedback has been a lot more positive and constructive. There has been very vocal support for more diverse panels at industry conferences in recent times and many all-white male panels at events are now being called out and challenged.

Are there industries that AV can learn from and use to roadmap its own initiatives?

I think many industries are way ahead of AV and the business world is full of examples. Many AV end users will work for large corporations that have had D & I initiatives in place for many years. Within our industry I’d like to single out Shure as setting a fine example. Not only do they have a female CEO in Christine Schyvinck (who follows in the footsteps of Rose Shure and gave an inspirational keynote at the InfoComm AVIXA Women’s breakfast) but they have multiple programmes for outreach even to schools, to spread the word about our fantastic industry to a diverse next-generation workforce.

What do you think is more of a barrier to diversity and inclusivity in AV – reluctance/ignorance from within or external factors, such as a lack of qualified candidates for positions or a lack of awareness of the industry as a potential career?

From a personal point of view I know that a traditional job advert for an AV technician requiring experience will elicit very few, if any, female candidates.

Somewhere between school and graduation the

Companies can only benefit from creating a workforce that reflects their customer demographic"

potential candidates are disappearing from the supply chain into AV. The challenge is to reach out further back than graduates and attract younger students to the AV industry from college and schools. Our industry needs to vigorously market itself to become an attractive option for those looking for a career in technology. Outreach programmes such as AVMI’s ex-forces veteran’s initiative are another way of bringing new talent into AV. One push back is from a sector of white males who see it as an attack on them and have an opinion that anyone who tries hard enough will succeed in the AV industry, and this has been vocalised in one or two blogs and articles particularly in the US. This is a mindset that needs to change because it doesn’t take into account so many factors that prevent individuals from under-represented groups from ever getting near to an opportunity within the AV industry.

At what point did you first start to consider the level of diversity within your own team?

It just hit me about eight years ago, I looked at our team and realised although we had very different personalities and fit together well, we were basically a narrow homogenous group of all white males. I solved the problem by creating a trainee position that didn’t require any previous experience. It was a different marketplace at the time but we had over 300 applications with 40% women and many non-UK applicants. We eventually employed a woman and she has been promoted twice and is an incredibly valuable member of our team who we would have missed out on through the traditional advert route.

How much of a challenge is it to build a diverse and inclusive team when the AV talent pool is considerably smaller than many other technology industries?

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Last word

Apart from trainee roles, we have also welcomed interest from within our organisation from other departments. Others have seen how exciting it is to be in an award-winning AV team and have asked if there are opportunities to join. One benefit of AVIXA membership is that anyone in the member organisation can have access to the free online training and certification. We have watched three individuals who previously worked in the kitchen or reception grow within our team and establish fulltime roles in the AV industry.

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Installation is proud to sponsor the next AVIXA Diversity Council event, which is being held in London on 9 October.

To register and for more details, visit https://bit.ly/2Nogl1K

Have you got any general or specific goals around diversity and inclusion for your team and for the AV industry as a whole?

I have organised two AVIXA Diversity Council events previously this year with another two planned, these are about raising awareness and formulating a plan of action. My goal is to see some of this action realised and to help bring about a change in the industry. In the meantime I continue to connect people and spread the word and watch and support as others are leading their own initiatives and making change happen. I have been joined by Graeme Massey of JacobsMassey and Jennie Stephens from Shure on a UK sub-committee of the AVIXA diversity council and we are also looking for more AVIXA members to sign up and join us as volunteers to promote the councils work.

There are two events that I am organising: firstly on the 9 October in central London, an evening of storytelling from those with positive and inspirational experiences from under-represented groups and also from those involved in initiatives to change the demographic of the AV industry.

Also on 11 February at ISE on the Main Stage we have a fabulous event on how to create change, focusing on changing your mind, creating a welcoming environment, outreach and positive action to create more diversity and inclusion in AV. The keynote speaker and panel moderator will be June Sarpong, and the panel will include Chris Hope from Loop Lab and Nina Dunn a video/ lighting artist.

The October event already has over 80 registrations, it’s free to attend and is listed on Eventbrite, it’s going to be a lively and engaging night of storytelling and networking.

Tell me about the next diversity and inclusivity events you’re hosting.

Kevin McLoughlin is AV manager at the Royal Society of Medicine

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