Immersive experience recreates Golden Temple of Amritsar

Imagine a former retail store in Brampton, Ontario. Now imagine approaching the Golden Temple of Amritsar, then exploring Sikh history and ideas. These two worlds converged in the ‘IN5 Experium: The Golden Temple’ thanks to creative use of the latest multimedia technology. Pure AV provided the turnkey solution including immersive projection-mapping with WATCHOUT.

IN5 Experium was a mesmerizing virtual media experience focusing on the famous Golden Temple, Amritsar, India. Besides providing a sense of the location itself, the design aimed to educate and motivate people about Sikh history and their philosophies. Touring the exhibition, the visitor was brought into the (virtual) presence of the fabled Golden Temple with projection-mapped floors, walls and centerpiece – a staggering 42-projectors with content from a Dataton WATCHOUT system. Moving on, interactive displays illuminated the past and present realities of being a Sikh.

The experience was commissioned by PDA Trade Fairs, headquartered in Bangalore, India. They drafted the initial renderings and layouts of the exhibit before looking for local talent to provide a turnkey package for the experience, encompassing projection-mapping on floors, walls, and a central object. In addition, the floor was to interact with visitors and there would be information screens lining the entrance. 

Enter Pure AV, Mississauga.

Turnkey solution across time zones

Pure AV has a strong reputation in Ontario for its services in regard to dynamic multimedia platforms. The company offers audio visual technical support by not only providing the equipment, but also setting up complete events and exhibits, working closely with clients to ensure their vision resonates perfectly with design and project management teams.

“The client, PDA Trade Fairs, was looking for more than just an audiovisual provider, they wanted a complete “turn-key package” from a single vendor. Whether it was digital, virtual or hard set, as the selected vendor we had to ensure it was completed correctly. From the start, this exhibit had to be discussed around the clock, and mostly via email (the company head office is located several time zones away). Afterwards, we met at remote locations around the world to finalize details and ensure that on-site execution would be efficient and timely,” explains Walter Vice at Pure AV.

Pure AV handled all the technological (and some hard-set) aspects of the exhibit. The company installed all AV projection gear, interactive displays (TVs and projectors), as well as Dataton WATCHOUT media servers for content playback. Pure AV also handled all the networking infrastructure to ensure that the performance of the gear could be monitored. “This also allowed our team to control and monitor equipment performance from a single location,” adds Walter Vice.

The delivery schedule was tight. With project renderings finalized and thoroughly checked at the end of February, installation began on March 24, just three weeks before the event launch.

Mapping challenges

Timing was not the only challenge for the Pure AV team of Max Kuznyetsov, design; Walter Vice, sales; Josh Corriveau, project manager, and Clint Alves, IT. The venue had previously served as a retail store which meant the team had to overcome projection distance limitations, due to building heights and support columns. Moreover, Pure AV had to be very thorough with projection lens calculations and positioning of the units.

“Ideally, an extra 2ft was necessary to achieve the projection size we needed,” notes Walter Vice. “However, with the help of WATCHOUT, we placed projectors on angles and used advanced corner correct features to get a superb result.”

On the mapping side of things, limited projection distances also resulted in smaller blend spaces (sometimes as low as 10%). The team worked hard to mount the projectors above the rafters and secure them firmly on uni-strut. This was to ensure that there would be zero movement and that the blend would remain perfect for the two-month run, especially with minimal blend space.

WATCHOUT and WATCHNET control

Pure AV regularly uses Dataton WATCHOUT to create one-of-a-kind productions for clients who are looking for maximum impact of their events. In this case, WATCHOUT was used to create unique production elements that maximized the presence of 42 projectors in a single space.

“We utilized the software to warp projection onto a wooden CNC cut-out of the Golden temple; then we blended sixteen Panasonic projectors around the room; and lastly our team dove into advanced settings to corner-correct six Panasonic projectors hung in the ceiling pointing directly onto the floor,” explains project manager Josh Corriveau.

"For the floor projection, we also used WATCHOUT and six Panasonic projectors along with custom-written software that triggered motion sensors and created “a ripple effect” on the floor. This would be generated for every patron that walked by. To create further interactivity, IR sensors triggered movement of “virtual fish” that would swim towards the “ripples” and “hover” around people’s feet.”

For overall control, the team chose Dataton’s WATCHNET manager software. This enabled communication with all projectors and interactive displays for on/off scheduling. Furthermore, it gave the client the ability to control content easily and even program blackout options for nighttime.

Enthralling experience

‘IN5 Experium: The Golden Temple’ opened on schedule in April 2019 and welcomed visitors for two months. Described by guests as “a spiritual experience”, by the press as “an enthralling visual treat” and a “stunning exhibit” the ticketed exhibition met its goal of bringing tradition and technology together in a brand new way, touching all five senses.

“We are hoping that when the audience leaves the exhibition they are enriched and they begin their journey of wanting to know more,” concludes curator Inni Kaur.