WATCHOUT to the fore at Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea

“We are extremely pleased to see that many pavilions chose WATCHOUT because of the genuine reputation we managed to create for our products and services during the world expo in Shanghai two years ago,” believes Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director, Dataton.

“With the support of our Korean distributor Acetel, we have supplied some of the Expo’s most eyecatching pavilions with multiple WATCHOUT channels, enabling some of the most innovative uses of AV technology the world has ever seen.”

WATCHOUT is being used in some 18 of the Expo’s 47 national pavilions, including those hosted by Spain, Japan, Peru, Tunisia, Denmark, Germany, the UAE, Angola, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Kazakhstan – whose capital Astana is a candidate city to host the world expo of 2017. Highlights of the Pavilions that deploy WATCHOUT include:

Music and video combined at Kazakhstan Pavilion

“In the Kazakhstan pavilion, we are using WATCHOUT not just for the automated playback of a six-projector sourced movie cycle, but also for the music in the band performances which are an integral part of that cycle,” says Alex Samokhin, AV systems integrator working on the Kazakhstan pavilion.

“WATCHOUT is controlling audio cues, LED backlights and moving-head lighting fixtures which are used to highlight the live musicians, singers and dancers. Best of all, the performers themselves can choose their songs or dances using an iPod interface to the pavilion’s Crestron control system.”

WATCHOUT showcases Artic and Northern Shipping Routes at Russia Pavilion

Elsewhere, Russia’s pavilion features a 20-minute movie showcasing the country’s Arctic region and Northern Shipping Route, using 16 projectors powered by 5 WATCHOUT computers, with a sixth as the master controller to project on the four walls, floor and ceiling of the room. The Russia Pavilion was designed by General de Producciones y Diseño and the AV integration by BienvenidoGil.

Technical support of WATCHOUT in Peru, Uruguay and Malaysia Pavilions

There are so many pavilions at the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, which use WATCHOUT. Dataton Premium Partner for South and Latin America, Omagica were on hand to provide technical support to their local partner as well as other areas such as Peru, Uruguay and the Malaysian pavilion.

Dynamic Water Entrance, US Pavilion

The dynamic water entrance decoration to the US pavilion also employs WATCHOUT as its beating technological heart.

WATCHOUT blends visitor pre-show area at the German Pavilion

Germany’s ICT Innovative Communication Technologies AG (Kohlberg) integrated WATCHOUT in the visitor pre-show area of the German Pavilion to perform threefold and soft-edge blend projection on to a 24-meter panoramic screen. The area is designed to engage audiences as they wait for the exhibit doors to open with a cinematic presentation that highlights the diversity of the German coastline and harbours. At the end of the pre-show presentation, the innovative screen and wall opens up to allow audiences to discover and explore the German Pavilion.

In dome view at LG and Korea Pavilions

The 27 pavilions presented by the Expo’s host nation include exhibits supported by local and national government bodies, as well as attractions designed by the event’s corporate sponsors. Among the latter, the LG pavilion features a media façade powered by eight edge-blended projectors all driven by WATCHOUT, as well as an associated water screen. Even more spectacular is Korea’s national pavilion itself, which hosts a 30m dome with circular projection screen divided into 21 different zones – each powered by a different WATCHOUT-connected projector.

Both the LG and Korea pavilions had their systems designed and installed by local integrator AV Korea. “Our technicians have been using WATCHOUT for a long time so we were very confident in our choice,” says the company’s Director, Koo Joung Mo.

“The 30m dome, which also incorporates a 12.2 channel surround-sound system, was a first for this country’s event industry, but the technical support we received from Dataton and our partners domeprojection.com was second to none. WATCHOUT proved very easy to integrate with the system’s AMX controllers, which meant we were able to deliver a single point of control for the WATCHOUT show, all the projectors, and the event lighting.”

WATCHOUT powers Big-O, the largest water curtain ever built

Perhaps most spectacular of all is Big-O, the Expo’s signature show designed and integrated by ECA2, where eight WATCHOUT equipped computers power eight projectors that illuminate the Big-O. The Big-O is the largest water curtain ever built. Below the Big-O display, The Living Screen, a multimedia fountain created by WET Design, uses another four WATCHOUT-equipped computers power four sets of dual stacked 35,000 lumen projectors operating in portrait mode to project images onto fountains as they move around a 47m-high water curtain – with the Yeosu Sea as a dramatic and unpredictable backdrop. These two WATCHOUT systems work in perfect synchronization and it is anticipated that even after the Expo closes, ‘ Big-O’ will remain as a permanent visitor attraction.

WATCHOUT drives 5K cinema content at Main Theme Pavilion

Systems integrator, Acetel was involved in several areas at the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea including the Main Theme Pavilion that combines 5K resolution cinema and live presentation using WATCHOUT and show control. “When you plan Expos on such a huge scale, WATCHOUT is the most reliable display solution”, Jeong-Mok Byun, Director, Acetel.

WATCHOUT Dynamic Image Server deployed in interactive visitor experiences at Sky Tower

Interaction with visitors played an important role in educating and storytelling. The Sky Tower pavilion offers a complete view of Yeosu EXPO landscape through digital interactive experiences using 11 edge-blended projectors on to a huge canvas. Visitors handwritten messages are placed on digital kites or floating lamps as a message of hope. “This has been one of the most popular interactive shows at the EXPO. We utilized the Dynamic Image Server functionality of WATCHOUT to integrate the live messages from the audience on to the large-screen display”, adds Jeong-Mok Byun, Director, Acetel.

WATCHOUT integrated with sensor-based technology at Hyundai Motor Pavilion

The Hyundai Motor Pavilion has a digital media façade comprising 8 edge-blended projectors and content comprises 3,500 synchronised moving video cubes and edge-blended 8 projectors. Seong-Wook Ryu, Director, Mediadigm (official local partner of Acetel) says: “Sensors on the floor count incoming visitors, and once the venue is full the programme will commence. Here, WATCHOUT provides reliable performance whenever I need complex or sensor based audience interactions.”

A Polar experience at Climate Circumstance Pavilion

The Climate Circumstance Pavilion provides a North Polar experience in contrast to the balmy Korean climate. A section of the pavilion is cooled to a low temperature. Designed to educate visitors on climate change, video content of polar bears is displayed using an ice structure as the projection surface. The video is synchronized with an additional theater area.

“An elegantly edge-blended projection screen and the synchronized video are displayed on a complicated polygon shape which have been successfully realized by applying WATCHOUT,” said Seong-Wook Ryu, Director, Mediadigm (official local partner of Acetel).

Jeong-Mok Byun, Director, Acetel, concludes: “Some of the world’s leading event design and AV solutions companies have come to Yeosu to showcase their talent, and it has been a privilege to work with them by supporting their use of WATCHOUT. We had a technical team on-site from several weeks before the Expo opened and, although there are always things that do not go according to plan when you prepare for an event as huge as this, I’m pleased to say that WATCHOUT has performed impeccably at every pavilion for which it has been specified.

“Both for Acetel and for Dataton, Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea has truly been a landmark audiovisual project.”