NYU Utilizes 120 ft. Video Wall for Student Education.
December 16, 2008 Education, Interactivity, Mobile Marketing, Software
When some people do things, they do them right. This was certainly the case with Dan Shiffman, professor at NYU. Instead of giving final exams using a #2 pencil, Shiffman instead uses a 120 video wall, the equivalent of six 16:9 displays end-to-end. Shiffman has created the screens complete with SMS interactivity with text-to-screen technology.
In fact, the screen demands interactivity. Students interact by clapping, singing, and texting to the digital display. Professor Shiffman with the financial help of the IAC (owners of ask.com and TicketMaster) have successfully installed one of the world’s largest indoor video walls. It is created with 27 vertically oriented rear projectors linked into a single display running on Sypder software projected onto a rear projection translucent screen. Shiffman comments on the uniqueness of the experience:
“For the students it’s just such a completely unique experience—it’s unique for anybody, whether you’re a grad student or a professional designer. Few people in the world have a chance to work on anything of this scale, and what’s great is that I can say to them you can do whatever you want. You learn a ton about technically producing the work, and also what it means visually to work on that scale.”
“I can’t imagine that when IAC build that wall that they imagined performances on it with actors casting shadows behind the screen, so that’s fantastic.”
The “Big Screens” class is powered by three dual-head Mac Pros. All of the Macs are running their own pari of 16:9 aspect-ratio displays. In effect, they’re splitting up nine projectors for each head, running a total on-screen resolution of 8160 x 768 pixels. Seriously, how cool is that?
As part of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, Shiffman is teaching a programming language called Processing (processing.org), which allows for various applications that fill up the screen, including music videos, data visualizations, and interactive video art. It’s a fairly simple programming language that allows for code to be turned into awesome graphics and visuals.
With over 6 million pixels, the display has some awesome capabilities. In fact, Mooshir Vahanvati has helped to create some slammin’ interactive content, including a 120 foot long powerline with perched birds who will scatter when a microphone picks up sharp noises.
Shiffman is the author of “Most Pixels Ever” library for Processing. This programming allows for syncing of multiple displays seamlessly without any glitches or delays. It’s still amazing that the system can handle a 6 million pixel output.
The applications for the digital signage industry here are very obvious. In almost every industry, we rely on educational institutions to give us the latest and greatest in technology advancements. Thanks to NYU, we’re moving forward here.
See the original post @Gizmodo.