Cruise Line Uses 25-Foot LED Vortex As Centerpiece

September 6, 2017 by Dave Haynes

Here’s an interesting example of how three-dimensional visuals and crazy idea can be baked into content and served up on a very unusual display canvas – in this case the central court of a monster cruise ship.

This is a 25 foot tall vortex-shaped LED column in the atrium of the Carnival Vista, a ship in the Carnival cruise line fleet that first set sail a year ago. It has a diameter of 2.5 feet at the bottom, increasing all the way to 26 feet at the top. Called Dreamscape, the digital art piece runs a series of motion graphic visuals on a 6mm pitch curved canvas.

There is a second one like this, a bit smaller, in the ship’s casino.

Technomedia Solutions out of Orlando was selected as the turnkey supplier for the custom central columns and complementary LED ceiling discs. They did the engineering, fabrication, and installation of the LED display feature elements, along with the creation of the mapped content that plays on the sculptures.

For the AV nerd readers: These complex shapes, says Technomedia, are seamlessly covered in custom Mood Technologies 6mm resolution LED displays with video content is served from a VYV media server located remotely in the ship’s Broadcast Center via an optical fiber infrastructure and Novastar LED Display Controllers. The entire system is controlled via an AMX system with custom programmed scheduler.

Technomedia Solutions LLC (TMS) was selected as the turnkey supplier for the custom central columns and ceiling discs. TMS was tasked with the engineering, fabrication, and installation of the LED display feature elements, along with the creation of the mapped content that plays on the sculptures.

Mathematically, engineering an LED video matrix to fit such a unique and complex shape had never been done before and required both custom fabricated LED displays and custom video mapping. If the geometry was not enough of a challenge, at one point the entire project was at risk when it became apparent that, because the column was located within and above a main bar, the entire system would have to meet the strict regulations of the United States Public Health Services (USPHS) to avoid the risk of dirt build up which could contaminate the bar.

Initially, the plan was to utilize flexible rubber LED displays which could mold to the unique shape, however it was deemed unacceptable by USPHS as the rubber would trap dust and not be cleanable. After some quick redesign and testing, TMS was able to substitute a flexible rigid & sealed LED product in place of the rubber which was ultimately approved by USPHS.

As mentioned at the top, while I like what I have seen in video (not yet in person) of that crazy robotic 3D board Coca-Cola put up in Times Square this summer, there are a lot of moving parts hat can lock up and break down. It makes me wonder if many of the visual effects could be done in the content, and this is a good example of how that might happen (watch the video at top).

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