The recent InfoComm 2011 conference in Orlando saw many Christie business partners, including integrators and consultants, winning major awards for their installations.
Christie partners captured eight awards in the fourth annual PRO AV Spotlight Awards program, sponsored by PRO AV and ARCHITECT magazines, and InfoComm International. The Spotlight Awards recognize the 15 best professional audio/video installations designed for corporate, education, entertainment, government, and other markets.
"Great relationships produce great results, for both our partners and their customers," said Kathryn Cress, vice president, global & corporate marketing, Christie. "This has never been more evident than recently at InfoComm, where our partners were recognized for their creativity and customer-first focus in implementing and supporting solutions based on Christie visual display solutions."
Winners (and the Christie contribution to each) included:
Best Corporate AV Project
Qualcomm 25th Anniversary Museum by Nautilus Entertainment Design
Nautilus Entertainment Design (NED) provided lighting design and A/V system design for the Qualcomm Museum including over 16 large-format, interactive video kiosks and an integrated control system. The museum was designed to celebrate the 25 years of technology and history of the company, while allowing guests to interactively explore the history as well as the future possibilities of Qualcomm technology.
The "Historical Timeline" display area contains what the team referred to as Wave Walls. Christie MicroTiles were selected to meet the criteria for flexibility and scalability. Each of the eight Wave Walls was designed to house up to 16 MicroTiles. However, most displays used six tiles in various configurations that fit around Qualcomm artifacts. The highlight of the "Future Area" contains a flush-mounted, curved video wall consisting of an array of Christie MicroTiles 4 tiles high by 10 tiles long located four feet above the floor.
Best Arts AV Project
New World Center by Pro Sound & Video
The Frank Gehry-designed New World Center in Miami Beach and the campus for the New World Symphony training institute boasts cutting-edge Christie projection systems throughout the 100,000 square foot facility, and the technical capabilities of the center are truly groundbreaking. A computer-synchronized system projects moving images on five broad, sail-like ceiling panels from 10 Christie Roadie HD+30K 3-chip DLP(r) projectors, allowing composers and artists to fully integrate music and video. The sails help make the room the most sophisticated symphony hall yet for assimilating video into a live musical experience. In addition, four Christie Roadie HD+30K can feed live concert images to an outdoor venue - the Miami Beach SoundScape Park, adjacent to the New World Center -and onto the 7000 square foot, six-story projection wall.
Best Education AV Project (tie)
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery by AVI Systems and R2W Inc.
The newly built Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (WID) facility, which opened in December 2010, houses twin interdisciplinary research institutes: the Morgridge Institute for Research, a private, not-for-profit research institute dedicated to improving human health by accelerating scientific discovery to patient delivery; and the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, which is part of UW-Madison, organized under its graduate school. The facility combines a private and public research facility under one roof, providing a unique setting in which interdisciplinary scientists work side-by-side.
What sets this building's AV system apart from traditional installations is the seamless way in which the two interactive Christie(r) MicroTiles(tm) arrays, one a 17 x 2 array and one a 10 x 4 array, blend into the environment and promote participation with visitors. By incorporating both touch and gesture interactivity on the video walls using the latest in laser and IR Camera technology, the WID has created a unique way to promote the work and activities being conducted in the facility. Sensory Interactive and Float 4 were also instrumental in making this project a success.
Best Education AV Project (tie)
University of Pennsylvania by Advanced AV
Installed in a 20 x 9 array (26 feet by 9 feet), the 180 Christie(r) MicroTiles(tm) at the University of Pennsylvania's Translational Research Center is the second largest public display of MicroTiles to date and a combined effort from Cerami & Associates, Advanced AV, and Christie. The entire audio video system - including the Christie MicroTiles - is designed to maximize collaboration, be aesthetically pleasing, and blend into the existing architecture.
Best Entertainment AV Project (tie)
TIFF Bell Lightbox by Westbury National Show Systems
Opened in September 2010 as the home of the Toronto International Film Festival(r) (TIFF), the TIFF Bell Lightbox features six Christie digital cinema projectors, with three theaters using the Christie CP2230, the top-of-the-line 2K model from the Christie Solaria Series. The TIFF Bell Lightbox, widely expected to become a cultural anchor in the city, is a modern, five-story complex in the heart of downtown Toronto.
Best Health Care AV project
Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick by Westbury National Show Systems
Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB program), which offers classes at both Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick campuses, is a partnership between the provincial government, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and the Province's Health Horizon Network. DMNB is now able to provide new distance-learning technology through new audiovisual system installations in 15 rooms, including a large lecture theater at Dalhousie where medical students can watch videos in 3D on three Christie Mirage Series HDK10 3-chip DLP(r) projectors.
Best Museum AV Project
NASCAR Hall of Fame by Electrosonic
A huge cluster of Christie(r) MicroTiles(tm) digital display tiles at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, is driving the fan experience by running massive archival videos and engaging visitors in the attraction's showpiece Great Hall.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame's Fan Billboard uses 252 MicroTiles in an 18-tile wide by 14-tile high array (24 feet by 14 feet) suspended over Glory Road, a section of sloping track in the main hall that shows the progression of NASCAR from its dirt track days to the modern paved speedways of today. The NASCAR Hall of Fame's main visitor orientation theater also uses Christie's powerful digital projectors and video processors to bring NASCAR's history to life.
Best Retail AV Project
Versace Fifth Avenue by McCann Systems
During New York's Fashion Week, you either go big or go home, and as demonstrated by their award, Versace and McCann Systems - a Christie AV integrator, proved that going big was the only way to go. McCann Systems created HD video walls in the Versace windows using 60 vivid Christie(r) MicroTiles(tm) in two arrays 3 wide by 10 high to display fashion show videos as a backdrop for live models wearing the season's hottest looks.
About Christie
Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual technologies company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Japan, (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world's most advanced projectors and complete system displays, Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images. Visit www.christiedigital.com.
