POTSDAM, NY – The amphitheater at Clarkson University’s Student Center has been equipped with a video wall from Video Visions made with Christie MicroTiles. Students voted to increase their own activity fees to help fund the center, and wanted to make it both welcoming and technologically advanced.
The wall combines an array of 80 Christie MicroTiles arranged in a 10 wide by 8 high configuration, media servers, Crestron touch panel and 12 inputs (with expansion potential for 15), delivering a rich, vibrant audio/video experience that gives students information about campus events, sports feeds such as hockey games, live music from the campus radio station, and four HD television feeds. The installation is also used by students for video games, and is used to create interesting backdrops during live performances such as comedy nights or concerts.
“Our school is very technology-focused, so it was important for us to have state-of-the-art multimedia,” said Kevin Lynch, chief information officer at Clarkson. “We’re especially pleased that our design students can use the wall as a canvas for their own work. It gives them a learning experience on the latest in digital display technology. It’s also easy enough to program, so that anyone with good laptop skills can do it.”
The installation begins on the main floor of the amphitheater, and rises upward. It is easily seen throughout the center, including from some opera-style boxes at the side. Students check the Christie MicroTiles video wall regularly as they walk from one class to the next, and officials sometimes joke that the content is so compelling it’s hard to get people back to their work or studies.
