Specialist 3D software supplier vertigo systems® GmbH develops and supplies real-time, interactive floor, table and wall themed attractions for a variety of public environments, including leisure centres, museums, zoos, hotels, healthcare waiting areas, indoor play parks, retail stores, showrooms and trade fair booths. With the ‘living surface’ product, vertigo can transform any surface into an interactive area, with software, a graphic PC and infrared-image sensor technology at its core. The image is produced using projectors, LED or LCD displays, LED-grids or stackable POS display cubes.
In September 2023, vertigo approached longstanding mount partner Peerless-AV to support two new ‘living surface’ display installations in its Cologne showroom.
For the first ‘living wall’ install, a 3×3 video wall was to be recessed in a wall cabinet. This product works without touch, instead recognising body or arm movement and therefore offers a more natural, intuitive and seamless way to interact with the digital content. Available for purchase or long-term rental, customers can choose from a wide range of interactive content (artificial life, sports simulation, mosaic/traced/wipe/poster effect, fluid simulation, dynamic particles) or use effect apps to create individual branded content. In the showroom install, the content is a realistic underwater world where users can explore and interact with the fish.
For the second ‘interactive ocean’ installation, a 75″ display was to be mounted on the wall. This product recognises movement and touch, allowing the viewer to interact with sea creatures in the reef through a photorealistic real-time simulation. The content is 9x FHD, up to over 18 megapixels, offering a selection of different camera angles as well as the possibility to follow fish through the underwater world and experience the reef action up close, as if exploring as a scuba diver. Depending on the time of day, the fish population, and light changes according to the position of the sun.
“These installations are great examples of human-technology convergence,” said Oliver Bunsen, vertigo Systems GmbH’s general manager, “Visitors to the showroom are really impressed by the 3D graphics that give content and brand motifs an incomparable quality. For such immersive attractions, the technology needs to have the right platform to be presented on, whether a projector, single display, video wall or other. Then there’s the mount to consider. And it needs to be a master of many things to ensure the installation is safe for public interaction whilst also delivering a perfectly aligned image with narrow bezels and a uniform surface. We’ve trusted Peerless-AV mounts for many years now, in over 50 projects nationwide, due to the company’s high-quality products, good advice, reliable availability and price-performance balance.”
For this showroom project, vertigo systems managed the installations themselves, choosing the SmartMount™ Full-Service Video Wall Mount with Quick Release (DS-VW765-LQR) and the SmartMount® Universal Flat Wall Mount (ST670P), both families renowned for providing the versatility required by installers.
The first step in the installation process was to make the custom-built wall cabinet with recess for the 3×3 (9-panel) LCD video wall. Since the video wall had to sit flush in the recessed wall, and rear servicing was therefore not possible, the mount had to have a pop-out function so that individual displays could be extended and serviced as required. The DS-VW765-LQR video wall mount features quick-release functionality that allows users to articulate a display from the wall by gently pressing on the front. The mount also offers a custom wall plate and 8-point tool-less micro adjustment to make installing and fine-tuning the video wall as straightforward and speedy as possible.
Once the mounts were installed in the recess, the cabling followed and then the 49″ FHD Videowall Displays were hung and aligned, resulting in a larger-than-life, flawless ‘living wall’ image. “The install team is convinced by the simplicity of the mount’s design, its slim profile and flexible adjustment options. For these reasons, and the fact that only one employee needs to visit for maintenance purposes without unhooking the display, we are able to keep time and costs to a minimum when on-site on all our projects,” Bunsen added.
For the single 75″ professional display, the ST670P provided perfect horizontal and vertical adjustment capability, allowing for post-installation levelling and side-to-side positioning, making it easy to find the perfect display position. The Hook-and-Hang™ system facilitated a single-person install and Easy-Glide™ adaptors hooked onto the wall plate for an overall quick, simple, and secure installation. The result in the showroom is a large format, interactive ‘living ocean’ that draws the viewer into the underwater world.
The two ‘living surface’ installations were completed with ease since vertigo systems is very practised in handling Peerless-AV mounts and building these attractions for customers such as zoos, swimming pools, clubs and bars, retail and other public institutions. Customers now have a place to visit and interact with these installations live and choose from various content options to suit their environment and audience.
“This is a really impressive product, using complex 3D graphics programming to develop VR realms and bring customer ideas to life. We are very pleased to be the mount provider of choice in these showrooms and all nationwide ‘living surface’ installations with vertigo systems,” said Patrick Vater, Germany sales manager.