There’s Digital Signage From Bow To Stern On This New German River Boat

July 9, 2024 by guest author, Florian Rotberg

Guest Post: Florian Rotberg, invidis

A media ship is an unusual idea. But the concept of a floating newsroom, a stage for live journalism and a digital signage location for events has become established. The Pioneer One has been sailing on the Spree in Berlin for two years now. Now a sister ship, the Pioneer Two, is following suit – larger, more spectacular and equipped with lots of digital signage. invidis was there at the launch on the Rhine.

Not far from the former federal capital (Bonn), in the middle of a residential area, lies the Lux shipyard, which specializes in the construction of passenger ships for inland waterways. Last week, capital city journalists, publishing managers and digital signage experts met for the launch of the second media ship “The Pioneer Two”.

The 52-meter-long inland vessel is a further development of the world’s first media ship , the Pioneer One, which was completed in 2020. The two ships are developed and used by the digital media house Mediapioneer, headed by former Handelsblatt boss and podcaster Gabor Steingart. The Axel Springer publishing house is also on board as a shareholder. The idea of ​​transparent editorial work on an open stage instead of behind closed doors is well received – the daily The Pioneer Briefing reaches more than 200,000 subscribers. The podcast of the same name and other The Pioneer podcasts record around 1 million streams per week.

In addition to editorial offices, the two ships are also rented out for events. The new sister ship is approved for 200 passengers, who can gather information, network and celebrate in a hall under a hydraulically retractable roof and on the outside deck.

The Pioneer Two’s digital signage partner is Samsung, which has equipped the electric ship from stern to bow with screens and LEDs. Design, integration and operation are carried out by the Berlin integrator Audioone and its subsidiary Videotoo. Even the batteries for the electric drive come from Samsung – although not from Samsung Electronics, but from its sister company Samsung SDI.

The highlight on the ship is a swivelling The Wall LED installation that can be assembled on massive swivel arms to form a large stage display. A custom-made product made of solid metal and with pins to connect the two high-resolution LED screens to form a homogeneous screen. A masterpiece of German engineering that impressed all trade visitors at the launch. A Samsung The Wall IW012A with a width of 6.5 meters in UHD resolution is used.

High-ranking visitors came to Bonn for the launch – not only the German Samsung management and the entire display management team, but also the CEO of Thyssenkrupp. The Pioneer Two was the first ship ever to be built with green steel – that is, climate-neutral with green hydrogen instead of a coal-fired blast furnace.

After the ship’s christening, the 150 guests – many of them Samsung’s digital signage partners – put the media ship through its paces during a cruise on the Rhine that lasted several hours. The silent electric drive was almost as fascinating as the many LED installations in and on the ship. The Pioneer Two also has two 15 square meter outdoor LEDs (Samsung XR039B) for communication with passers-by on the shore.

The Pioneer 2 is now sailing on the Spree and other German and European inland waterways.

_________________________

This post first appeared in the news section of Sixteen:Nine’s German language content partner invidis. That post has a pile of photos.