That Insane ETISALAT Booth At GITEX Also Had Shape-Shifting LED Walls

November 27, 2018 by Dave Haynes

One of the buzziest impressions from the recent GITEX trade show in Dubai – a very large, by the looks of it moderately crazy  variation on CES – was the way, way, way over-the-top ETISALAT booth – with the telecoms company having LED everywhere, and a flying car (only kinda sorta – it appeared to be a very expensive balloon).

If you were able to watch videos of the booth long enough before having a seizure, you may have noticed some of the LED video wall blocks were shape-shifting, very much like that ill-fated Coca-Coca board in Times Square.

Display Daily has a piece up about the transforming LED blocks, which were using Absen LED modules (Absen has a strong presence in UAE).

Reports Display Daily:

The Etisalat booth in particular blew visitors away with its 3D robotic video walls, which added a completely new dimension to the content on display.

This striking display was employed to showcase Etisalat’s efforts towards the development of autonomous transportation and connected car technologies in UAE, which form an integral part of Dubai’s Autonomous Transportation Strategy.

The booth’s theme was focussed on ‘driving the digital future to empower societies’, which was built on the telecommunications provider’s vision to facilitate futuristic solutions and services that will have a fundamental impact on customers’ lives.

To demonstrate the ‘future of mobility’, four moving LED walls featuring 1,464 Absen D3V modules were installed around the booth centre: one 11m x 2.5m master screen at the head of the stand, two 6m x 5m screens on the sides and one 2m x 2m screen at the back. Each module on the screen moves independently, creating a multi-sensory 3D video experience for the audience.

How that demonstrates the “future of mobility” is for someone else to drone on about, but it’s nonetheless visually compelling.

The combination of kinetic LED screens and 3D robotics is the perfect marriage of AV and AI (artificial intelligence) technology, fitting seamlessly into the show surroundings and displaying content in a highly creative and innovative way. The result was a high-impact visual performance that matched the showcase theme and vision of the Etisalat stand.

And again – what amounts to a whole bunch of LED modules on drawer sliders has to do with AI escapes me …

This moving LED block approach was a colossal disaster in Times Square for the thoroughly predictable reason that many moving parts, outside, in a city that gets four seasons, means stuff will break down.

This approach, by comparison, seems pretty reasonable and interesting for a temporary exhibit that won’t be running for more than 10-12 hours a day and is available to techs all night to fix and tweak. PLUS it is inside and therefore totally predicted.

I can see other big brands taking this kind of eye candy on for their booths at giant exhibitions like CES and the Detroit Auto Show.

What the creatives did with the robotics, at least what’s evident in the video, is, well, nothing. I kinda think if you are going to have all this shape-shifting, you might as well get the content to work with it.

Oh well. Still very interesting.

Here’s a wide-angle look at the insane booth:

  1. This seems to be a show stopper at that Etisalat Booth. The 3D robotic video wall should definitely create a high impact result.

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