UPPSALA, Sweden – The Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT), a Swedish newspaper, has a new visitor center that uses a Medialon system for a Media Center and also for conference facilities. PolyVision Teknik served as A/V system integrator for the project. "The producer, Lars Josefsson at PolyVision Mediaslottet, is really the creator of the whole Media Center. My task was to make his vision come true." said Per Sigemark, project manager from PolyVision Teknik AB.
The visitors' experience begins with immersive visuals on a 7-by-10-meter dome-shaped ceiling. The imagery includes a multitude of local, national and international events, and the ceiling changes color, from deep blue to dark red, using LED lights installed behind the dome.
The moving pictures are projected via a moving mirror on the ceiling, then the pictures move down to the center of a curved screen, where three projectors take over the picture and let it grow to a 7-meter wide seamless picture controlled by a Dataton WatchOut, all controlled and synchronized by Medialon Manager system.
As a part of the presentation, several stories are presented and discussed. At this time, a live connection with UNT Newsdesk is available and allows reporters to communicate and answer the audience's questions. Medialon controls the changeable lighting effects used in the room.
The next step in the visitors' experience includes a seven-minute film on the work at the newspaper and the journalistic process. At the end of that film, the screen disappears up in the dome, and the next part of the Media Center is revealed: the interactive room. There, visitors are invited to work as journalists on five computer workstations.
In the visitor center, Medialon Manager controls lighting via DMX using 12 channels, and also the moving mirrors for the imagery appearing on the dome-shaped ceiling, a Yamaha audio mixer (via MIDI), relays for six LCD screens and lighting fixtures, four Mitsubishi projectors and one Kramer Scaler (both via RS 232). The Medialon system is also connected to a lecturn via PLS, a film screen via relay, photocells and other switching devices.
PolyVision has taken advantage of the free Panel software that comes with the Medialon system to design several custom user interfaces for touch screens and other devices connected to the building's network. The UNT visitor center staff can activate the A/V devices, including lighting and sound, at the touch of a screen. A "Panic button" immediately stops the show and turns on all the lights. For daily cleaning and maintenance, there is also an audio sensor that lights the rooms and pulls up the screen.
PolyVision also arranged for the Medialon system to automatically shut down and reset the show system after one hour if someone forgets to turn off the conference room's devices after a show to extend the life of the projectors and other equipment used for the system.
"The work was to make all this equipment play together in a perfect harmony. I think we made it, but it is up to the visitors to judge and so far the reactions have been fantastic," said Sigemark.
Michael Ena from Kulturteknologerna performed the Medialon programming.
For further information, please visit www.unt.se , www.polyvision.se , www.kulturteknologerna.se and www.medialon.com.
