When you want to impress Michael Phelps, you must go all out. As a frequent visitor to Under Armour’s Baltimore headquarters, the most decorated Olympian of all time is very familiar with the global athletic performance brand’s spectacular Make You Famous Wall. “Without exception, everyone who sees the wall is amazed—the impact is immediate and dramatic,” remarked Kevin McDermond, program director for the company’s brand creative team.

The custom Prysm Systems visual workplace framed video wall measures 18 feet wide by 9 feet high, delivering over 160 square feet of pure digital excitement.

The concept for the wall was ideated by Under Armour’s founder and CEO, Kevin Plank. “When our campus was being remodeled, Kevin wanted one central location where we could bring an athlete on our roster—or one we were recruiting—to show them exactly how Under Armour is making them famous,” McDermond said. “The Prysm solution is a massive canvas where we can display a large variety of content to demonstrate how we’re telling their story, not just in Baltimore, but all over the world.”

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Global Visualization

One of the company’s tenured athletes recently visited his hometown of Baltimore and the wall. “Michael Phelps has an amazing personal story,” commented McDermond. “We brought him in and used the wall to graphically illustrate exactly how he’s being globally portrayed in our stores, on our social media channels, on our digital web banners, and in our commercial spots. The Prysm solution tells a powerful visual story by bringing digital content to life and expressing the commitment we have to sharing his story.”

The popularity of the Make You Famous Wall has enabled McDermond and his team to successfully choreograph each experience and ensure that every story strikes a personal chord. He elaborated, “The Prysm wall is an incredible story-telling tool that invokes emotion and enables us to deliver on the power of the brand. Each curated experience allows our brand to convey emotion in a very real way and our athletes immediately connect with us on a personal level. It’s not uncommon for our visitors to become completely immersed by the whole experience—it’s just so unique and impactful.”

Digital Storytelling

Each customized presentation follows a similar format. “The clarity and resolution make viewing the Prysm wall impressive on its own, but the ‘touch’ feature is one of the coolest parts of the whole visit,” McDermond added. “When we’re doing a presentation, we’ll zoom in on specific parts of the story, and then when we’re wrapping up, we’ll get the visitor to use the touch capability to actually sign the wall. We can then share a clip of the signing on social media to express our appreciation to the celebrity for stopping by. We keep a record to show subsequent visitors who have occupied the very same chair that they are sitting in, and it blows them away.”

A list of visitors to the wall reads like a who’s who of the world’s most famous athletes, entertainers, influencers, and business leaders. In addition to Michael Phelps, recent guests include Misty Copeland, Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Lindsey Vonn, Mark Wahlberg, as well as the key partners of the brand.

When there is no guest presentation, the wall displays a news feed of Under Armour athletes, game highlights, online product reviews, significant company announcements, marketing campaigns, and social media mentions. Under Armour employees, known as teammates, use the Prysm wall as one of their primary sources for all things Under Armour. McDermond stated, “The wall gives the space a real energy and is always in high-demand for meetings, as the Prysm solution really does add significantly to what gets accomplished.”

McDermond concluded, “We consider ourselves to be great story tellers and the Prysm wall is an incredible tool to help us deliver our message with passion and pride.”

Sometimes, to bring you intriguing stories, or even stories of intrigue, we can’t divulge the organization of origin. Such is the case with this large government contractor in the aerospace industry. The aerospace company engaged audiovisual and virtual reality solutions integration firm Mechdyne to provide a cutting-edge 3D visualization and simulation environment for its engineers to review highly detailed images.  

Immersive Display on a Massive Scale

The immersive centerpiece of the project is a curved 32-foot by nine-foot, 8K Sony Crystal LED direct-view display system. The extra-wide aspect ratio required special programming to ensure the best display of complex CAD models in the native format. The massive screen allows multiple users to collaborate while viewing 3D virtual reality designs, which is a more intuitive and user-friendly solution than head-mounted VR systems used by a group.

Mechdyne integrated and programmed the installation to accommodate various use cases. The windowing system can display 2D and stereoscopic 3D content from multiple sources anywhere on the screen. Programmed with Mechdyne’s Meeting Canvas software, the video wall can simultaneously display up to four HD inputs and four UHD 4K inputs. In addition, the system is virtual reality-enabled by 16 motion-tracking cameras. A user’s position and orientation are monitored in real-time to change imagery to present the correct image perspective as the user moves. The design also includes support for finger tracking to monitor the position and orientation of a user’s hand relative to the on-screen components. 

Mechdyne’s in-house team of control programmers reviewed use cases in-depth to ensure that the windowing software and user interface met the client’s unique needs. “Advance staging at Mechdyne’s Technical Center verified the integrity and operation of the system before installation,” said Chad Kickbush, general manager for Mechdyne’s Integrated Systems Business Unit. “The system was made fully functional, including integration of the display, windowing software, custom-user interface programming, and computer power to run it all.” Multiple display/windowing presets were also prepared. The client performed a factory acceptance test (FAT) to approve the interface and functionality prior to shipping. Off-site staging also enabled Mechdyne to perform the on-site integration rapidly, accurately, and with minimal disruption to the client’s day-to-day operations.

Boundary-pushing Technology

Sony and Mechdyne collaborated closely with the client to create this first-of-its-kind Crystal LED installation for 3D simulation in the aerospace arena. “The compelling visuals provided by Sony’s detailed Crystal LED display were further enhanced through collaboration with Mechdyne, who implement cutting-edge technology in a way that amplifies its inherent power in supporting premier government clients and applications,” said Sander Phipps, national account manager, Visualization and Simulation at Sony Electronics. “Our Crystal LED offers a breathtaking large-display experience, and when it’s paired with Mechdyne’s mind-blowing expertise in 3D, it makes the canvas truly come to life in ways that inspire and enable our users.”

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Modular in nature, Crystal LED technology accommodates virtually any size or aspect ratio. The LED’s 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio displays the beautiful depth of colors for extraordinary image quality. The nearly 180-degree viewing angle ensures all participants have an equally incredible experience. The virtual design industry prizes the true-to-life colors, textures, and resolution enabled by Crystal LED technology, which relies on fine details and analysis for precision and accuracy.

Enhancing the impressive, immersive quality of the environment, Mechdyne engineers built the display into the main wall to appear as part of the structure. At the same time, 7.1 surround-sound floods the room from unobtrusively positioned speakers. A custom frame and base bring the panels as close to the floor as possible, creating a portal-like effect. Ancillary flat panels are installed at the entranceway and other areas within the facility. Completing the installation: a control station from which a meeting facilitator can create and manage dynamic working sessions and presentations.

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Located in Pleasant Grove, UT, the Christa McAuliffe Space Center is a 4,000-square-foot facility featuring simulators and a planetarium. The Space Center is named after Christa McAuliffe, an educator and astronaut who lost her life in the space shuttle Challenger disaster, and is designed to teach astronomy and social studies through simulators with hands-on applications for education. Since opening in 1990, more than 400,000 visitors have experienced the Space Center and its simulated space missions. 

Central Elementary School, whose campus houses the Space Center, was revitalized in May 2020. The new school facility, located in Utah's Alpine School District, reopened in late 2020 with newly commissioned simulators. "The Christa McAuliffe Space Center has been around for decades," said Kendall Bowman, audio visual engineer for Performance Audio. "It's a staple for students throughout the Utah Valley area. Central Elementary is not only utilized by the current K-12 students. Other neighboring schools and districts utilize the facility for hands-on educational experiences. The new facility needed to be designed to offer a high-tech experience for students either attending or visiting for a day."

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During the reconstruction, Central Elementary wanted to utilize the downtime as an opportunity to upgrade their AV system. “They had an existing system that was a combination of solutions that were added over some time, but not necessarily designed to work seamlessly,” Bowman said. Central Elementary selected BNA Consulting to create a unique, user-friendly AV experience during the reconstruction.

The simulators, each with individual names and specific characteristics, are located in separate rooms representing missions based on aspects similar to the Star Trek universe. Each room creates interactive stories, usually applicable to historical events, to create a hands-on learning experience. "The original design included a matrix solution, but as we continued through the design process, it made more sense to incorporate an IP solution," Bowman said. "It was important for the client to have a solution that distributed video from one simulator to another simulator, each located in a different room. We selected Visionary's PacketAV Duet Matrix Series because it provided us with a cost-effective, flexible solution that tied the video from each simulator together. The audio and control system is based on QSC Q-SYS architecture, and from our past experience, Visionary's products work seamlessly with QSC's technology. We worked with BNA Consulting to incorporate network infrastructure to provide the client with a seamless yet flexible solution."

Visionary's PacketAV Duet Matrix Series is designed for standard network infrastructure, which allowed Performance Audio to create a scalable solution for Central Elementary. "We utilized 24 PacketAV Duet Encoders and 12 PacketAV Duet Decoders to bridge the video between six simulators," Bowman said. "The end result was a flexible, robust solution. Most importantly, it created a lot of value for our client, because they have the opportunity to add a display or other input source without having to replace any of their technology. Visionary's PacketAV Duet Matrix Series enables our client to expand their system easily. The client is thrilled with the flexibility of the systems. We've had nothing but good feedback from them on the final result." 

Performance Audio's installation at Central Elementary was its largest installation with Visionary, although it’s been working with Visionary's technology for over five years. “Visionary's willingness to open the control of their technology and work seamlessly with other manufacturers, such as QSC, is a huge value add for us,” Bowman said. “We integrate QSC into a lot of our projects, and Visionary is an easy choice because of the integration with QSC. Visionary's built-in ‘plug-in and preview’ eliminates installation time and allows us to efficiently design a system that we're confident in."

The door opened, and I ducked into the cockpit of an Airbus A350. Easing myself into the pilot’s seat, I studied the minute details in the controls and flight map. I reached for the throttle—but my hand passed through it like an apparition. 

Of course, I wasn’t at the helm of an aircraft, but rather in a hotel room in Midtown Manhattan, trying out what is perhaps the world’s most sophisticated VR/AR headset: the XR-1 Developer Edition from Finland-based Varjo Technologies. With a pixel density so high that Varjo calls it “human eye resolution,” it’s easy to get lost in virtual environments. And while you can tell that you’re looking at a digitized version of reality (a very fine graining of pixels is still perceptible), it doesn’t interfere with the sense of immersion or the ability to critically discern details like small print on virtual displays. 

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All of what I’ve described so far, however, has been available since the company’s first product, the VR-1, was released early in 2019. Organizations around the world are employing it and its successors, the VR-2 and VR-2 Pro, for a variety of applications, including training for airline pilots.

What makes Varjo’s new XR-1 special is its augmented reality capabilities, which, when paired with the company’s just-launched 2D/3D immersive user interface called Varjo Workspace, open a plethora of opportunities for design-related fields. This “Dimensional Interface” is compatible with a number of Microsoft Windows applications and software tools, and enables designers to switch between real, virtual, and mixed-reality modes and modify their creations while experiencing them in 3D.

In my demonstration, the Varjo team of Urho Konttori, founder and chief product officer and Jussi Mäkinen, chief marketing officer, guided me through a few applications that are possible with the XR-1 and Varjo Workspace. At first, I was just sitting in a digitized version of the hotel room—reality captured through the XR-1’s imaging technology. Then, a giant floating screen appeared in front of the room’s actual TV, and Mäkinen played the trailer for the upcoming Star Wars movie on it, proving how smoothly the system is able to render content, even at such high resolutions. 

Next, Mäkinen—who was operating the PC that was driving my headset with a wireless keyboard and mouse—switched me into a virtual environment, an automotive showroom of one of Varjo’s customers, Volvo. At first, the room was empty except for a blue SUV. Then, he inserted a floating display above the vehicle, essentially a Windows computer screen running CAD software. Using the software, he gradually began adding different pieces of furniture to the room around a blue SUV—demonstrating the ease with which one can design an environment from within that environment. 

With Varjo’s video pass-through-based mixed reality, designers can just as easily implement virtual elements into an existing physical environment, greatly enhancing their creative potential. In fact, the XR-1 is so capable that engineers at Volvo are actually driving prototype vehicles while wearing it, to evaluate interior designs and active safety technologies.

According to Mäkinen and Konttori, the company’s software is compatible with CAD and visualization tools including Autodesk VRED, Unity, and Unreal, so designers can simply upgrade their current workflows into the realm of virtual and augmented reality.

“Varjo Workspace shows how professionals will use and interact with computers in the future,” Konttori said. “Varjo is unique in being the only product maker capable of photorealistic visual fidelity in both VR and XR, with perfect color accuracy and control. This is a key enabler for the next computing paradigm.” 

Varjo Workspace is currently shipping to customers and partners as part of the software delivered with the XR-1 Developer Edition. The XR-1 Developer Edition headset is available for purchase immediately at $9,995 and is sold together with Varjo’s Software and Support service at $1,995. Varjo plans to implement customer and partner feedback in 2020 to further deepen its integration with professional design, engineering, and simulation tools.

Varjo Technologies, provider of industrial-grade VR/XR headsets, has announced a cooperation agreement for technical and business collaboration with Lenovo. The new partnership will create Certified for Varjo pairings on Lenovo desktop and mobile workstations for all Varjo head-mounted displays (HMDs). This combines world-leading professional VR/XR products with powerful, high-end computers, enabling enterprise organizations to adopt and implement VR use cases more quickly. 

[Behind Varjo's ‘Human Eye Resolution’ VR Headset]

“Our partnership with Lenovo helps drive a monumental shift in enterprise usage of immersive technologies,” said Timo Toikkanen, president and COO at Varjo. “Combining our products with Lenovo’s pioneering enterprise portfolio products into readymade bundles eases adoption hurdles and quickly gives organizations the tools they need to start taking advantage of the many benefits of virtual reality.”

Professional VR applications including research, training and simulation, industrial design, and more require the most powerful and sophisticated technologies in order to create a valuable user experience. Varjo’s human-eye resolution VR devices, matched with the processing and compute power found in Lenovo’s workstation portfolio products, push the limits of spatial computing forward and deliver the most natural visual experience for exploring and interacting with high-resolution models and simulations.

“When you’re looking for the ultimate VR and XR viewing experience, you look for the only human-eye resolution display available,” said Rob Herman, general manager, Workstation and Client AI at Lenovo. “The technology Varjo brings to the table is extremely sophisticated and requires professional workstation power to bring that clarity to life. That’s why I’m excited to see the partnership between Varjo and Lenovo come to life after months of development and collaboration—certifying several desktop and mobile workstation configurations across our ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series portfolio. This certification ensures the highest-quality experience for professional applications—spanning across automotive, simulation, training, architectural visualization, and more.”

This global partnership announcement comes on the heels of Varjo’s recent launch of two VR headsets: the VR-2 and the VR-2 Pro.

Siemens Rail Automation is a supplier of signaling systems to the rail industry worldwide. The signaling system is fundamental to the safety of a rail network as it maintains safe separation and prevents collisions. Thorough initial training and regular refresher courses in a realistic environment is essential to maintaining the signalers’ competency and knowledge of operating procedures. Siemens collaborated with Matrox to implement an IP-based simulation environment for their European rail-network client with an innovative use of streaming and recording of multiple video feeds.

A simulator allows a trainer to vary scenarios—changing the weather, introducing obstacles on the line, incidents in stations, broken-down trains, or other things that affect the scheduling of movement of rolling stock. The trainer needs to monitor a trainee’s reaction to a particular scenario as it transpires. To be able to view the entire session later for analysis and pinpointing areas of improvement, each individual trainee’s performance needs to be recorded as well.

The trainee operator’s signaling desk contains multiple monitors for the signaling application that shows, among other things, the state of the signals, dynamic speed limits, state of points on the track, and train positions. Additional screens from other collaborative applications, such as timetabling, are also displayed for the trainee. Trainers too have multiple screens where they define and manage the training scenario.

Siemens Rail Automation met their client’s need by leveraging Matrox’s video wall and enterprise encoding portfolio as building blocks to create an end-to-end, IP-based simulation system—all on the client’s 1-Gigabit Ethernet network.

At the individual trainee stations, “operator” workstations host a Matrox multi-display graphics card to power an eight-monitor, 4x2 desktop configuration. In the same PC system are two Matrox Maevex 6100 quad 4K enterprise encoder cards. Capable of simultaneously capturing, streaming, and recording up to four 4K inputs, Maevex 6100 in this case captures quad 1080p inputs, composites them as a single 4K signal, and streams them to a collaborative video wall. Doing so ensures that the time correlation between the individual screens is not lost; a cursor moving across a desktop from screen to screen is seen as it happens. This is important for the trainer to get a realistic picture. A jerky or delayed cursor movement could be construed by the trainer as indecision or hesitation on the part of the trainee. If the cursor movement by the trainee—including between screens—is smooth, it is imperative for it to be seen live and recorded as being smooth.

In addition to the above are three dual-monitor timetabling workstations and a quad-monitor trainer workstation, each with a Matrox graphics card and Maevex 6100 encoder card to stream desktop content to the collaborative display wall. The timetabling workstations are used by trainee timetable planners to make on-the-day changes. One of the training objectives is to support the team working between the signalers and planners.

On the video wall are 12 monitors in several arrangements that enable the trainer to control the simulation environment and monitor trainee signalers and planners. The video wall can also be used collaboratively to replay and review the training session. This is all from a single, low-footprint Blue Chip Ultima 2M system that hosts a combination of Matrox Mura IPX decoder cards and Matrox Mura MPX input/output video wall cards, which work together to decode and display the various incoming streams. The rail network uses Matrox MuraControl for Windows video wall software to manage the incoming IP sources, presenting the information on the wall in a way that looks like the original setup at the trainee’s desk. These “video wall copies” allow trainers and other decision makers to remotely and instantaneously see the trainee’s reaction to a given situation. Desktop views are easily switched between trainees. Additionally, Maevex 6100 allows training sessions to be simultaneously recorded to network storage from where the simulations are played back on demand to the individual trainee, or to other interested parties.

To complete the offering, Matrox provided product and configuration training for Siemens personnel onsite at Siemens Rail Automation’s headquarters.

Siemens Rail Automation has deployed the IP-based signaling simulator as part of a major project in a leading European-rail-network organization where it is performing in line with the rail industry’s stringent standards. Similar deployments for other clients are being planned.

“Using Matrox’s video wall and streaming and recording technologies has been instrumental to the successful implementation of this pioneering IP-based signaling simulator in our client’s organization,” said Andy Powell of Siemens Rail Automation. “Without Matrox, this clearly wouldn’t have been achievable.”

Using the standard network to stream the various elements of the simulator in real time has offered many benefits to the client. The video wall displays copies of the trainer’s own screens, as well as a selected trainee’s screens. This IP-based implementation is easily scalable and allows multiple trainees to be participating in the same training session—with the trainer able to select which trainee to be overseeing at a given time.