Las Vegas – the year-round gala of glitz – is a tough place to get noticed.
But attention is what retailing is all about, and the project team for the Carolina Herrera boutique in the newly developed City Center retail development was tasked to deliver it. However, after exploring a wide range of high-resolution, large-format video display options, the project team decided that these approaches were tired and would not ignite the requisite visual interest for the brand.
The solution was projecting video directly onto the boutique's upper-story windows. This approach provides a large-scale moving image projected from window to window with cinematic resolution. Displaying video content culled from Herrera runway shows, models appear to walk across a stage behind the window glass. The horizontal aspect ratio is a suitable frame, with the window mullions flowing naturally across the image as if viewers were seeing a larger-than-life fashion show.
To project the video onto the windows from the boutique’s interior, design consultant Essential Communications selected a relatively new material, 3M's Vikuiti projection film product, and made it a viable solution for large-scale projection onto 1,000 square feet of unused window space. Essential Communications researched and tested the Vikuiti material and then applied it to the windows. By splitting the image into three parts and "reassembling" it on the projection surface, the overall scale was achieved as well.
The 1920 x 1080 resolution video is rear-projected by three edge-blended Barco 12,000-lumen projectors to create a seamless image across window panes with the Vikuiti material. The projectors are hidden in the unoccupied second-story space above the boutique ceiling, leaving no trace of the technology inside the store. An Electrosonic digital content storage/player distributes the continuously looped content to the projectors, and the entire setup is controlled via Crestron hardware.
This approach created a seamless integration of the AV display and the architectural elements of the clean, Modernist facade of the City Center building. Previously existing video display options would not have conformed to the development's architectural design requirements, nor would the client have achieved its dream of projecting its designs onto the exterior of the jewel box boutique.
The end-result is 1,000 square feet of the most understated opulence to hit the Vegas strip. The smooth motion of cinema-like visual content has an effect quite different from the blaring images of the familiar large-scale LEDs advertising Las Vegas' buffets and shopping attractions.
PROJECT TEAM
Architect: a+i design corp.
System Integrator: Candela Controls
Design Consultant: Essential Communications
Program Manager/General Contractor: Thor Construction
PRODUCTS USED
3 Barco SLM-R12+ 3Chip DLP Projector, with 1.5-2.0 Zoom Lens, network interface card
1 Gefen EXT-DVI-CAT5-4X Video Extender
3 Gefen DVI-CAT5-MSR Video Receiver
1 Electrosonic MS9500G Video Player
2 Electrosonic ImageStar HD Video Processor
1 Crestron MP2E Automation Processor
1 Crestron CNX-B8 Eight Button Station
