New York City’s LaGuardia Terminal B has modernized the passenger experience through the use of more than three dozen digital displays from LG Business Solutions USA. Ranging from multi-display video walls and vertical info totems to large, custom LED solutions, the displays are making it easier for guests to find urgent flight information, navigate the terminals and retail establishments and stay informed about security line procedures.

The terminal is going through a multi-phase transformation, led by LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP), the manager and developer of the terminal. LGP Information Technology Manager Luis Vitureira describes it as “building a brand-new terminal on top of an existing terminal.” The new Terminal B also includes digital display network hardware and software upgrades, which are attracting praise and recognition from frequent fliers, travel experts, and staff. 

Related: The Technology Manager's Guide to the New Era of Digital Signage

“Twenty-first century travelers expect twenty-first century airports, and that means they want information such as flight schedules, wayfinding maps, and security procedures to be presented frequently in a highly visible manner, not on static signs or small TVs with spreadsheet-like visuals,” Vitureira said. “Even though the existing displays in Terminal B were relatively new, we determined that some of them were undersized, and therefore were not sufficiently aiding airport guests or maximizing impact and value for advertising partners. We knew that we could improve the passenger experience with larger, brighter, more visible digital displays and content.” 

Some of the first major digital upgrades passengers encounter are two custom, ultrawide LG LED archway displays mounted over the security entrances. Each of the 1.89mm-pixel-pitch displays stretch 20 feet, covering the entire length of the security entrances. Because the displays can be easily updated, the security lanes can be changed on the fly to respond to changes in traffic flow. 

When traffic at the security area changes, personnel can adjust the mobile lane dividers on the ground and then update the LED display’s visuals to accurately denote which lane is for which group of passengers. 

“These purpose-built LED displays change the dynamic of the security area by providing clear, bright guidance that can be updated as needed,” said Dan Verbsky, senior transportation account manager, LG Business Solutions USA. “The ability to respond to traffic flow can drastically reduce congestion and wait times, making it easier for passengers to practice social distancing. The benefits are significant, and LG’s LED technology was the ideal solution to fit the wide space with limited height available.”

For frequent fliers, new flight information displays (FIDs) constantly provide real-time updates on flight schedules, delays, and terminal locations. To help busy travelers locate the information they need more quickly, the project’s managers at LaGuardia Gateway Partners chose to go big, creating five FIDs that each comprise two 86-inch 4K LG Business Solutions displays stacked vertically. The top display presents flight information, while the bottom display shows a map of the terminal’s retail establishments alongside public service announcements or commercial advertisements.

In the passenger screening section of Terminal B, seven new ReadySeeGo digital signage totems utilize vertically-oriented LG 86-inch Ultra Stretch displays to present typical security line information such as banned items, shoe and clothing requirements, and any new procedures that are implemented. According to Vitureira, these standalone units were the ideal solution to provide mobile signage that can be updated as required and relocated if necessary.

“Every decision we made was the result of thoughtful discussion over how to best utilize the space available and provide a more seamless airport experience for all travelers,” he said. “Whether it’s the digital columns in the TSA area or the 20 LG Ultra Stretch displays now installed in baggage claim, we have improved the visibility and effectiveness of our messaging at every juncture.”

The final display upgrade is found in Terminal B’s baggage claim area, where each carousel is now topped by two 88-inch LG Ultra Stretch landscape displays mounted back-to-back. In addition to identifying which flight’s baggage is on which carousel, each display also shows a taxi wait-time indicator, directions to public transit pickups, and a specific ride-share area, along with any other urgent information passengers may need. 

Opened on January 1 after years of planning and construction, the Moynihan Train Hall is an expansion of NYC’s Pennsylvania Station into the historic James A. Farley Building, a sprawling Beaux-Arts building that formerly served as the general post office for Midtown Manhattan. The new hall provides a beautiful new access to most of Penn Stations’ platforms for Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road passengers, serving 17 of the station’s 21 tracks. The 225,000-square-foot train hall was built to alleviate congestion in Penn Station, which saw 650,000 daily riders before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The $1.6 billion renovation historically restored the building, added a central atrium with a glass roof and retail space, a 320-seat waiting area, public bathrooms, and three areas with works of art.

Advance Sound Company joined the project in 2018 and was tasked with the audio installation for the expansive hall. Audio requirements included quality paging and distribution for the two major train systems utilizing the train hall: Amtrak and MTA Long Island Rail Road. Advanced Sound eventually settled on a system based on SoundTube’s CM82-EZ-II and CM62-EZS-II ceiling-mount loudspeakers and a Symetrix Prism 8X8 Processor, giving the hall the opportunity to utilize the system for digital signage audio or audio performances in the future.

Related: VuWall Control Solutions Streamline Operations for French Rail Network

Advance Sound Company created a 164-zone Dante system to manage the audio that was installed between June and December 2020. “We designed a custom work cabinet with carpeted shelf and foam dividers to deliver zones of speakers at a time,” said Thomas DePace, CTS, COO and senior engineering manager for Advance Sound Company. “This eliminated on site waste, as well as allowed our office technical staff to tap and test speakers and safety cable prior to delivery to the site. With the intense security protocols in place to bring product into the building, we had to make it as easy as possible to get through the intake inspection to prevent job delays.

“Architectural design caused varying ceiling types, so it was important that we had adjustable speakers that had the same voicing in all the areas. Speakers installed in the tech panels were black, while speakers in gypsum ceilings were white, and speakers in custom wood ceilings were custom painted beige. Speakers in the main train hall had to be hidden behind HVAC louvered diffusers. They also had to be specifically aimed and panned accordingly. As such we enlisted the help of Polar Focus to design a custom beam mount bracket that could be adjusted to appropriate depths and angles.

“Coverage and frequency response were the most important specs that allowed for an even and intelligible system. MSE Audio’s color-coded backboxes and tiles bridges assisted our installation team to match the previously installed bridges to the appropriate speaker and diameter.

“Since we’re still under COVID-19 restrictions, Moynihan Train Hall is operating at 25 of capacity. This reduced volume of passengers required us to lower the overall building audio volume. It’s amazing to hear how clear and precise the sound is regardless of the volume. With the high ceiling heights, we’re even able to get the reverberation level to under two seconds. That says a lot about the product quality.” 

Products used in the installation include:

• (1) AtlasIED IP116CS
• (12) AtlasIED T112C with (82) T1202-120V Amplifier Cards
• (2) AtlasIED IED550CS-G
• (2) AtlasIED IED1522AIOLR
• (1) Symetrix Prism 8X8
• (480) SoundTube CM82-EZ-II / CM62-EZS-II Speakers
• (38) JBL CBT50-LA Speakers
• (38) Polar Focus Custom Pan Tilt Brackets for Above
• (11) Fortinet FS-108E-FPoE Switches
• (10) Lowell LGR-4427 Gangable Racks
• (10) Lowell UPSV-2000

The Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany’s capital is on pace to open this fall, bringing a new transit hub to one of Europe’s largest cities. With a projected annual passenger flow of 34 million, it would become the third-busiest airport in Germany. In order to provide maximum access and system security, the airport management team chose the KVM system from IHSE, which provides reliable and smooth operation.

The airport comprises many control centers that are staffed 24/7 to control and monitor various areas. For security and space reasons, computers and IT equipment are located in a remote equipment room, away from the desks and monitors of the operators. Another major advantage of the physical separation is the ergonomic design of the control rooms, removing noisy, heat-producing computers from the operator workplace. Furthermore, relocation to an air-conditioned, access-controlled equipment room simplifies central system administration and protects the devices from external influences and harmful environmental factors (e.g. protection from moisture or overheating).

Related: The Technology Manager's Guide to Command and Control 

KVM extenders from IHSE transmit the computer signals (video, sound, keyboard, pointing devices, etc.) between the computers in the central equipment room and the users in the control centers instantaneously. The KVM system is used to operate various control systems for fire protection, security technology, and supervision as well as monitoring of the apron, terminal, baggage handling system, all flight movements, and ground movements.

"With the IHSE extenders, we can access the relevant computer from any location in real time as if it was located directly at the workplace—even if it is more than a hundred meters away," said Norman Beneke, consultant, IT solutions at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

The KVM system used provides direct connections (point-to-point) between the computers and the workstations via category cabling. For 2021, in addition to the changeover to fiber optic cabling, an upgrade with an IHSE KVM matrix switch is planned. The switch will enable operators to access each connected computer immediately from any workstation, thus offering the airport much greater flexibility and fail-safe operation in the future.

"Resilience of the deployed solution is crucial for safe flight operations," said Enno Littmann, IHSE's CEO. "The IHSE technology offers a powerful, highly available solution for 24/7 operation. The operators can focus on their monitoring tasks without any disruptions."

The French National Railway Company’s (SNCF’s) mission is to make the travel experience simpler and to deliver seamless, sustainable passenger and freight transport. In order to successfully achieve that mission for the Net U, RER C, and TER center rail lines meant a constructing a new control tower capable of managing any daily rail crises that arise—from an individual on the tracks, passenger discomfort, a switch problem, a power interruption, and more. This requires the coordination of the various services and access to a range of critical information sources workstations to workstations as well as video walls. Integrator Polymedia Europe identified that in the course of a day the organization’s challenges changed frequently. SNCF needed a visualization solution that would give the control tower teams the flexibility to manage any situation quickly—making faster decisions and responding more efficiently with visualization tools that would grant them access to up-to-date passenger and train information, no matter the display surface.

Related: The Technology Manager's Guide to Command and Control 

For this project, two VuWall VuScape video wall controllers were deployed, allowing users to control and distribute all content sources to any display on the network. For the new control tower, the inventory of displays comprised two 3x2 video walls in the control room, one 3x2 video wall in the crisis room, one beamer in the crisis room, as well as two 2x1 LCDs in the control room. Two VuScape controllers manage the displays, while the third second one provides failover. 

SNCF can mix baseband and IP sources on the same VuScape controller, supporting multiple 4K HDMI, and DisplayPort inputs. The controller can also display any kind of content coming from cloud/network-based solutions such as websites, data, third-party SCADA, business analytics, and social media data. For SNCF operators, sources include France’s 24-hour rolling news and weather channel; a map of France showing train schedule status, so they can instantly know which are on time or late; and the surveillance cameras at Montparnasse Station so that operators can be apprised of traffic and ensure the flow of passengers. 

While the control tower is able to work with any source available at their fingertips and from any display, the VuWall system is especially valuable when it comes to operating in a crisis. In the event of an emergency, teams can construct a diagnosis using a schematic map. That information can then be distributed to different entities to allow all vested parties to make a fast, informed decision. VuScape effectively closes the gap between the different source formats in a user-friendly controller.

For the next phase, SNCF is exploring the option to add VuScape’s KVM functionality enabling the control of computers remotely with a networked keyboard/mouse emulator. This will give operators seamless continuity between controlling the video wall and their desktops, essentially creating a multi-surface system where the video wall will become an extension of their desks.

“We have over 100 million passengers each year that depend on us to keep them safe,” said Yvan Gonzalez, project director of Emergency Alert Systems and Exploitation at SNCF. “Selecting the right technology for our operations is key. VuWall’s visualization solution gives our team the confidence they need to control what they see, when and where they need to see it, in order to respond quickly to keep our passengers and our employees safe.”

Dubai International (DXB) in the United Arab Emirates is the world's busiest airport for international passenger traffic, handling more than 88 million passengers a year. Dubai Airport’s new Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) houses several teams managing airport operations 24/7. Dubai audiovisual integrator Aesthetix was appointed to design and integrate a state-of-the-art audiovisual solution for the new AOCC control room. The objective was to provide a user-friendly, flexible video wall solution for operators to view live visuals and data for monitoring and collaborative decision making.  

Aesthetix selected RGB Spectrum’s MediaWall V 4K display processor to power the AOCC’s massive 55-screen video wall. The MediaWall V processor was chosen for its image quality, real-time performance, and embedded architecture, which reduces the vulnerabilities of hacking and tampering of PC-based processors.

Related: Preparing for AV-over-IP Control Rooms

The AOCC MediaWall-based video wall centralizes an extensive volume of visuals and data to enhance situational awareness. Operators can collaboratively view information for daily management and planning.

The MediaWall V processor receives input from surveillance cameras, and computer system displays covering dynamic flight information, passenger and baggage status, check-in and boarding information, weather, access control, and other data. The MediaWall V processor consolidates these diverse sources and displays them in windows of any size, anywhere on the video wall array. The processor’s advanced features include overlapping images, window borders and titles, and pan and zoom, allowing an operator to view items of particular interest. 

The processor is controlled by RGB Spectrum's VIEW Controller, which simplifies the video wall operation. The VIEW Controller's graphical user interface (GUI) provides drag-and-drop selection and routing of any source. Live thumbnails of all sources provide visual aids for managing workflow. Sources can even be previewed prior to routing. Operators can choose from up to 60 preset window layouts. VIEW Controller does not require custom programming, so it is both quick to implement and cost-effective. It provides access based on user privileges that allow or restrict access to features, supporting multiple users with configurable levels of access.

Bannister Lake has entered into a partnership with Brooklyn-based data aggregator and distributor, Roadify Transit. Roadify specializes in capturing live multimode transit and mobility data from transit authorities, bike share programs, and car and ride share services from around the world. Bannister Lake has developed and implemented a data parser for Roadify data that ingests schedule and real-time transit data directly into its Chameleon data aggregation and management solution. 

Within Chameleon, users will be able to customize Roadify location-based data with other real-time data feeds, and use BLADE, the product’s RESTful API, to distribute data to specific endpoints for visualization. By targeting and extending transit and mobility data to online, mobile, OTT, and web widgets, Chameleon users will be able to create new data products that reach more viewers and generate new revenue.

[Bannister Lake Chameleon Drives Data Aggregation at the US Open]

The addition of Roadify data will allow Chameleon clients to be able to create location-specific live transit displays for arenas, public events, and corporate campuses. The data can also be used by broadcast users to provide viewers with up-to-the-second mass transit information informing commuters of service alerts and on-time status. The combination of Roadify data and Chameleon software will provide a complete view of multiple area transit and mobility system conditions while supporting sponsorships, advertising, and other supplementary editorial content such as school closings, events calendars, local news, and traffic.

“Reliable, consistent transit information that includes car and bike sharing is critical to commuters,” said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake. “Managing that data through Chameleon and making it readily available to any screen, anywhere, is an important public service, and we are thrilled to be working with Roadify to fulfill this mandate.” 

“As transit and mobility options proliferate, Bannister Lake will make it easy for riders to find out what’s going on around them right now, simply by looking up at a display,” said Scott Kolber, CEO, Roadify. “We’re especially excited that Bannister Lake will be making RoadifyTV, our new integrated data selection and deployment tool, available through Chameleon. RoadifyTV is specifically focused on digital signage services, and Bannister Lake will be among the first wave of our partners to use it.” 

Kaptivo to offer a free Kaptivo Whiteboard Camera to any airport around the world. With this offer, Kaptivo helps reduce the risk of airport technology failure for both air travelers and airport personnel.

In the last two months, two of the largest airports in the UK - London Heathrow, and London Gatwick - have experienced failures with their flight information systems that caused massive confusion, frustration and missed flights. Both airports were forced to provide flight information to passengers by manually writing on dry-erase whiteboards distributed throughout the terminal, a process which passengers described as “chaotic.”

The Kaptivo whiteboard capture system provides a solution when flight information goes down. The camera captures and enhances the whiteboard content to remove glare and people blocking the board, and then streams the writing to monitors around the airport in real-time. Kaptivo enables airports to share updates instantly from a central control room to the monitors around the airport where flight information is typically displayed, thus causing less disruption and stress for passengers. This video illustrates how airports can use their free Kaptivo system should the flight information system fail.

“We’re proud to help airports provide a world-class experience to travelers, even in the face of unexpected technology failures,” said Nic Lawrence, co-founder and chief customer officer of Kaptivo. “Of course, airport flight information is just one of the many uses of the Kaptivo system. Anyone who uses traditional dry-erase whiteboards can use a Kaptivo to collaborate and share information digitally.”

The offer expires on Dec. 31, 2018. Airports interested in this offer should email hello(at)kaptivo.com.

Shuffling through New York’s Grand Central Terminal, it’s not uncommon to see an interloping bird or two flapping about the cavernous transit hub. But on July 19, there were thousands.

No, this wasn’t a Hitchcockesque horror scene; the avian exhibit was the work of some clever projection mapping design by brand experience and event tech agency Cramer. In an event celebrating Dawn dish soap’s 40 years helping to save wildlife, the company used AV to transform Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall into a virtual bird sanctuary.

“[Dawn] wanted something really different and unique, so the idea was to transform one of the most iconic spaces into New York into this amazing natural, wild place—a wildlife preserve, if you will—and give people the chance to feel what it’s like,” said Steve Johnson, SVP of creative services at Cramer.

This was accomplished using 16 Barco UDX-4K32 31,000-lumen 4K projectors for a total of some 480,000 lumens. “We’re doing four columns here, we’re doing the center back wall, and we’re also doing the entire roof and back wall all the way to the main causeway that opens up into Grand Central,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, the mapping design for this space wasn’t easy, as the walls and ceiling feature ornamental architectural appointments and there are chandeliers suspended within the room. So he and his team turned to Disguise technology to make a rendering of the room and create the projection show.

“We came in mid-June to map the space,” Johnson said. “With a laser scanner, we take a scan of the space. We recreate that entire model in 3D, and then we take that model, pick one of the vantage points, and then start to be able to map the space.

“We do that all through the Disguise software using Macs. That allows us to be able to shift and warp, and keystone the projectors so that we’re able to accurately map them onto the space. So we build it back at our studios in Boston using that 3D model, getting the exact projections by setting cameras where the projectors are, and that allows us to get things together much more quickly.” And speedy setup was a must for this exhibition, as the team had less than 36 hours from load-in until show time.

The presentation also incorporated spatial audio to enhance the sense of immersion. According to Johnson, the show utilized four channels of surround sound emanating from Electro-Voice speakers mounted to the trusses, and was done using Pro Tools software. “So if you’re back here against this column, you’ll hear when the ducks go up… flapping as they take off,” Johnson said.

To watch a video of the mapping show, click here.