NanoLumens Turns Up the HEAT at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami

For the last 16 years the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida, has been known for pushing the limits of the in-arena fan experience with its unusual scoreboard, world-class concerts and must-see sporting events. So when The HEAT Group, the parent company of the arena as well as the Miami HEAT NBA basketball team that calls the arena home, wanted to bring the fan experience outside to the newly designed and soon-to-be unveiled Xfinity East Plaza, they turned to NanoLumens to create an eye-catching visual environment using six of its NanoSlim and NanoWrap solutions.

The state-of-the-art outdoor plaza, which features a stage, fully-equipped bar and NRG Solar Canopy, is making its  debut during the grand opening celebration on January 31, 2016, as the Miami HEAT take the court against the Atlanta Hawks.

“The Miami HEAT have always been a technology-driven franchise committed to delivering a superior entertainment experience at both HEAT games and Arena events," said Eric Woolworth, President of The HEAT Group Business Operations. "Our latest endeavor of pairing technology with fan experience comes with the unveiling of our Xfinity East Plaza, where the incredibly impressive NanoLumens displays are helping us to deliver digital content to a previously underutilized outdoor space—a prospect we believe HEAT fans and Arena guests will enjoy as much as we do.”

The opening of the sensational Xfinity East Plaza will turn a once under-utilized outdoor area into a revenue-generating epicenter of entertainment for the HEAT Group. According to NanoLumens Southeast Regional Sales Director Arch Nelson, “The new Xfinity East Plaza creates an oasis for ticketed guests to enjoy the South Florida weather, while not missing a minute of the action. On the NanoLumens solutions, the HEAT Group can show guests what is going on inside the arena with live action and instant replay while also offering other entertainment options, as well as also showing revenue-generating sponsor advertisements.” Utilizing the six NanoLumens displays, the AmericanAirlines Arena can boost revenue through game day advertising while also offering local South Florida businesses and residents an impressive new event space for future opportunities.

The NanoLumens solutions have been made available to The HEAT Group through the NanoLumens Advantage program, designed to help businesses gain a competitive sales advantage with the latest technology, protect against obsolescence, and simplify asset management, all while streamlining the many benefits into a one-stop solution. 

To learn more about the Xfinity East Plaza, click here. 

Honolulu International Airport Brings the 'Wow' Factor Back to Travel with State-of-the-Art LED Displays

Adding to a growing portfolio of airport installations around the world, NanoLumens, today announced the completion of a new installation at the Honolulu International Airport (HNL). In partnership with systems integrator Ford Audio-Video, NanoLumens, the industry-leading manufacturer and innovator of LED display visualization solutions, installed two 44.65’ X 7.28’ NanoLumens NanoSlim LED display solutions that now serve as the central traveler communications platform for an improved experience. 

According to Airport World, environmental graphic design within airports is often not the first thought when looking to boost revenue, but it has a tremendous potential to influence a traveler’s experience. In fact, J.D. Power and Associates, reports that happy passengers spend an average 45 percent more than grumpy ones or $20.55 versus $14.12 on airport retail purchases in shops and eateries.

The Honolulu International Airport project joins a growing list of NanoLumens airport installations that now include London’s Stansted and Heathrow Airports, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the Miami International Airport, the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the Darwin International Airport in Australia. According to NanoLumens Regional Sales Manager Eric Seigler, “More and more airports understand that large format LED based visualization solutions are the best way to cut through the clutter and engage hurried travelers with critically important messages, information, and, in many cases, sponsored advertising content,” Seigler explained. “The Honolulu International Airport installation represents the latest addition to our transportation portfolio, with more to follow.” 

NanoLumens worked with its systems integration partner, Oklahoma City-based Ford Audio-Video, to install two 44.65’ X 7.28’ NanoSlim 6MM pixel pitch solutions to help the airport operators more efficiently and compellingly communicate flight information to travelers. Ford Audio-Video selected NanoLumens for the project based on its demonstrated ability to custom design solutions in any size, shape, or curvature that are also thin, light in weight, and easy to service. 

“Ford Audio-Video has partnered with NanoLumens on many successful projects,” said Bid Division Manager  at Ford Audio-Video Ed Knoll “NanoLumens was selected for this project because of their strong integrator support program, superior product performance, and long-term performance reliability. The NanoLumens team is very accessible and responsive, and is always eager to help us with design and creativity.”

According to Ford Audio-Video Project Engineer, Travis Ellis, “Ford Audio-Video has been the long-term provider of Public Address, Flight Information Display and Gate Management System Maintenance and AV integration at the Honolulu international Airport (HNL). The goal of the project was to provide departure flight information that could be visible throughout each of the two lobbies that are approximately 120-feet in depth. Additionally, the airport required that there be additional LED real estate space to show additional content of passenger interest, such as a destination city’s weather and a Hawaii tourism video slideshow.”  

To operate the NanoLumens 6MM, 2,000 NIT visualization solutions, Ford Audio-Video installed SITA manufactured software running on Dell Optiplex XE2 computers to generate the flight information in addition to a BrightSign 4K242 solid state media player to output the destination city weather and Hawaii Tourism video slideshow.

Available in any size, shape or curvature, NanoLumens solutions fit seamlessly into any architectural space and on virtually any surface without being obtrusive, adding the ‘WOW’ factor to an airport without taking up precious space. Each display is extremely slim, ultra-lightweight, energy efficient, featuring a bright, seamless, high-resolution picture quality that can be viewed from any angle throughout the display horizon without color shift or image distortion.

“This is the first large format LED display installation at the Honolulu International Airport,” Ellis concluded. “The success of this project should help us to bring future large format LED displays to lobbies four through eight of the airport’s overseas terminal.”

Seigler concluded, “NanoLumens values the relationship with Ford Audio-Video and looks forward to working on many more projects with them in the near future.” 

NanoLumens Lights Up CenturyLink's New Technology Center of Excellence With a Unique NanoWrap™ Solution

Last March, CenturyLink (www.centurylink.com), a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company, cut the ribbon on its new Technology Center of Excellence. The 300,000 square-foot state-of-the-art (LEED certification pending) R&D center features of a stunning array of NanoWrap visualization solutions from NanoLumens (www.NanoLumens.com), an industry leading manufacturer and marketer of visualization solutions.

The new building’s lobby is a palace of glass that incorporates 37,000 square feet of View Dynamic Glass, making it the single largest installation of electrochromic glass in the country. View Dynamic Glass leverages nanotechnology and pre-programmed intelligence to tint automatically in response to outside conditions and user preferences, eliminating the need for blinds or shades. But, even with that technology, the lobby is still very bright. The exceptional brightness of NanoLumens’ technology, which can be adjusted as the ambient light levels change throughout the day, assures that the video on the solutions will remain clearly and crisply visible at any time, under any conditions. 

“The NanoLumens displays create a stunning effect in the lobby, and it’s fair to say that this sets the lobby apart from any other atrium like it,” said Ben Cating, Senior Consultant-VP of Idibri (www.idibri.com), the Addison, Texas-based consulting firm hired by CenturyLink. “It’s more than just a video installation — it’s a visual achievement.”

The center also includes a technology research and development lab, a network operations center, a customer experience center and a collaborative office and meeting space.  But, said Cating, the space also needed to make a definitive statement that immediately established the facility as a cutting-edge technology location. NanoLumens NanoWrap solutions helped the client make this visual statement and capture the attention of customers as they walk through the door. 

Three columns in the building’s three-story-tall atrium are wrapped with NanoLumens’ 5MM NanoWrap displays in a 42-inch-diameter circular panel that covers 12 feet of vertical surface on each column. The NanoLumens LED panels, made up of thousands of Nixels™, NanoLumens’ patented display module, turn these architectural elements into archi-technological elements. They provide a continuous stream of full-motion video that’s visible throughout the entire lobby and from any angle. Each display can show different video content or all three columns can play synchronously, with content fed over IPTV via fiber from a cloud-based Cisco-AppSpace content delivery system.

The NanoWraps are attached to the columns by a unique circular mounting system, incorporating a custom metal frame around the column in which the panels are attached. This system was carried out by AV systems integrator American AVL, based in Ruston, LA.

“CenturyLink wanted to make this lobby a unique technological experience for visitors and guests,” Cating emphasized. “We looked at a lot of possibilities, and video would keep the columns as an integral part of the aesthetic design. But attaching conventional flat displays to them would have ruined the flow they create visually. Only the flexibility of the NanoWraps, which we could literally wrap around the columns, offered us the solution that we needed. NanoWraps were the only way we could address this particular form factor. The result is striking to look at.”

“The space- and energy-efficient NanoWrap solution offers quiet, low energy consuming cylindrical visualization wherever a customer would like to place it,” emphasized NanoLumens Executive Vice President of Business Development, Karen Robinson. “Whether that’s hanging overhead, in a fixed position on its own, or around the columns of a building, NanoWrap solutions are made to equip customers like CenturyLink with the perfect visualization solution that’s just right for them– no matter what size, shape, or curvature is needed.”

To download additional hi-res images, click here. All photography is courtesy of Idibri Consulting. 

As Real As It Gets: Digital Installation Brings Madame Tussauds Experience to Life at 'The Crossroads of the World'

A giant new LED screen in New York City will give the tens of millions of annual visitors to Times Square - ’the crossroads of the world’ - the chance to see inside Madame Tussauds. 

The attention-grabbing 13 ft. by 12 ft. LED screen, which was installed on June 19th, is visible from 42nd Street. It is already proving to be a big hit with visitors to Times Square to enjoy a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the Madame Tussauds experience.

The project brief from Madame Tussauds (part of Merlin Entertainments Group) to Banner Managed Communication (BMC), its global marketing and communications agency, was to increase the attraction’s cut-through and audience share within the intensively competitive New York tourist scene. BMC brought in its digital experience design partner, OpenEye Global, a world leader in conceiving and delivering innovative visual technology projects, to create the experience from the eyes of the visitor. OpenEye also enlisted Scala and NanoLumens for content management and display installation, forming a solid team of expertise.

The Madame Tussauds and OpenEye teams developed a content strategy highlighting the brushes with fame (and infamy!) that could only happen inside Madame Tussauds. Using actors and a green screen to film reactions to their encounters with Madame Tussauds’ stars, crowds outside could get a real taste of the fun that awaits them inside.

Davey Barrett, Head of Product Development, Midway Attractions, North America at Merlin Entertainments plc said:

"BMC and OpenEye have helped us find a truly innovative way of communicating and visualizing the experience of visiting Madame Tussauds to a vast, untapped audience. We’re undoubtedly achieving our primary objective of grabbing the attention of many more visitors to Times Square. The 4.5MM digital display from NanoLumens delivers impeccable clarity and brightness essential in creating an invigorating experience.”

Catherine Burke, Managing Director of Banner Managed Communication, said:

“Creative thinking and leading-edge technology have combined here to inject new life and contemporary relevance into an attraction with a heritage stretching back almost 250 years.

The project is a perfect example of why we've partnered with OpenEye. They provide precisely the blend of digital innovation and execution expertise which BMC clients are looking for.”

Bryan Meszaros, CEO, OpenEye commented:

“It was clear to us that many people’s perception of Madame Tussauds lags way behind the modern-day reality. So our focus was on creating content and using technology to visualize and bring to life the Madame Tussauds experience, emphasizing what an incredibly dynamic and interactive attraction it is for visitors.”

Dina Townsend, Vice President of Retail, Scala commented:

"The Madam Tussaud's deployment is an excellent example of collaborative, best in class, digital engagement that seamlessly integrates technologies, form factors, platforms and strategic vision.

From the Scala perspective, our content management platform was leveraged to deliver digital signage as well as the #MTSelfie social media experience. Using the Scala platform as a true customer experience engine allowed Madam Tussaud's to integrate a variety of digital experiences all engaging the consumer across channels in new and unexpected ways, but all managed from a single and extensible console to provide the best possible outcomes in a most efficient delivery model." Dina Townsend, VP of Retail at Scala.

Burt Smith, Executive Vice President of NanoLumens commented:

“New York's Times Square is arguably the busiest intersection in the world," emphasized NanoLumens Executive Vice President of Business Development Burt Smith.  "Thousands of retailers, hotels, theaters, restaurants, bars and tourist attractions compete for the attention —and the business— of the millions of consumers who flock to this intersection every year.  Creating an engaging visualization solution that can work with the design limitations of any existing space in New York City is not an easy task for most solutions providers — except NanoLumens.  Our unique ability to listen to the Madame Tussaud team and design a solution in the shape, size, and curvature that works for them is what won the day.  We are very proud to have been a part of this very exciting project."

University of Arkansas Alumnus Creates the Ultimate Weekend Party Pad Controlled by ELAN

For a serious college sports fan, owning a 12th floor penthouse overlooking your alma mater is a dream come true. One University of Arkansas alumnus who regularly hosts university and team staff for parties has taken this idea even further by creating a Razorbacks-themed party pad where everything from the colored LED lights and window shades to the video wall and multi-room audio can be controlled right from his iPhone with the ELAN control system.

Looking around this penthouse, which used to be two separate condos, it’s clear that just about everything is custom designed. Walking through it can leave you in awe at the hallway’s tongue-and-groove hickory ceiling with backlit red glass sections, the glass floor that looks down into the wine cellar, the master suite with an open bathing area, the bathroom with chandelier lights, and of course the five-TV video wall in the living room. Add all of that to the home’s fully automated colored LED lighting, window shades, thermostats, audio in every room, and even a connected electronic door lock, and it really does seem like a home from the future.

According to Chad Moore of DeBoards, the Arkansas electronics installation company responsible for this home’s incredible systems, the future is now. “The owner of this penthouse had a grand vision, to be able to host parties in a space like no other without thinking about the logistics or fretting over how everything works. With our creative designs and the ELAN system we were able to give him everything he wanted, including a home completely free of wall switches. There is not a single light switch on the wall because all the lights including the many, many colored LED lights are controlled through the ELAN system.” 

The color red permeates through the home, paying homage to the Razorbacks and creating a distinct mood that’s perfect for parties and game day celebrations. There are LED strip lights almost anywhere they could be hidden, including under the stairs, behind decorative support beams and above and below cabinets. They can be set to any color through the ELAN g! system, allowing the owner to pump up the red for games or subdue the room in blue for a relaxing night.

“Guests at this home would be hard pressed to say they’ve seen anything else like it,” Moore added. “There’s a glass floor that looks down into the large climate-controlled wine cellar in the lower level and a wall of Razorbacks footballs autographed by the guests of each party the owner throws. There are LED lights in the ceiling, the floor and even the walls! It’s a great feeling as an integrator when the client is excited about creating a cool space and has ideas they want to flesh out.”

To add to the ambience, Moore was asked to make sure that every electronics component is hidden. There are no wires, no visible speakers and no cable boxes. All speakers and even subwoofers are in the ceiling and almost completely hidden from view, while the receivers, amplifiers and everything else are located in two equipment racks far from the living areas and completely out of sight. Using IR relays and IP communication, the ELAN g! system makes sure that every part of the house works smoothly and easily.

With 10 audio zones, four climate zones, an outdoor audio system on the balconies, and a DirecTV box for every TV, the possibilities are endless. While the owner loves using his iPhone and iPad to control the system, DeBoards also installed an ELAN touch panel in the great room (where the video wall is located) and by the front door for reliable always-on functionality. This is perfect for when the owner leaves his phone in another room and wants to close the blinds or turn on the lights. 

In addition to the ELAN equipment, this project uses Sony and Sharp TVs, Lutron lighting, Aprilaire thermostats, Integra receivers and amplifiers and Luxul wireless solutions to ensure every spot in the residence has full WiFi and connectivity to the g! system.

To download additional hi-res photos, click here.