Panasonic Implements New 3D Projection at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Panasonic Implements New 3D Projection at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Partners: Atea (Integrator)
Panasonic's RQ35K 4K projectors provide passive 3D projection and superior brightness, enabling students and researchers in KTH’s Visualisation Studio to improve interaction and visibility of visualised data.
"Compared to our previous setup, brightness has more than doubled, making it the perfect choice even in well-lit situations. This has transformed the user experience at KTH’s Visualisation Studio, significantly improving engagement and immersion throughout"
Lab Director
VIC Studio, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Challenge
Facilitate greater access to 3D projection technology for the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, enabling users to easily interact with visualised data, and enhance collaborative learning and exploration.
Solution
Panasonic’s 3-Chip DLP™ 4K projectors have revolutionised KTH’s Visualisation Studio, delivering passive 3D projection and brilliant brightness using patented Infitec 3D technology, whilst reducing maintenance and set-up complexity.
Pushing the Boundaries in Data Visualisation
KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska högskolan) is Scandinavia’s largest technical university and one of Europe’s leading institutions in engineering, technology, natural sciences, architecture, industrial management, and IT. The university collaborates closely with industry and society, promotes innovation and sustainability, and has a diverse international student body. It is consistently ranked among the top global universities in engineering and technology.
The Visualisation Studio (VIC) at KTH is a state-of-the-art research and teaching facility for high-end graphics, data visualisation, and immersive technologies. It supports an array of platforms from mobile devices to wall-sized 4K displays and VR/AR environments, with advanced interaction tools such as gesture and speech control, haptics, eye tracking, and multi-touch.
This is delivered as part of InfraVis, Sweden’s national research infrastructure for data visualisation, which helps researchers from a network of universities and research communities handle and explore large, complex datasets.
Opened in 2011, the VIC provides a hub for students to undertake experimentation and collaborative learning in data visualisation. For example, up to 50 students at any one time can explore atomic structures, molecules, and astronomy in 3D, increasing collaborative learning.
Choosing Between Active and Passive 3D Projection
With user engagement key to facilitating increased collaborative learning, KTH looked at upgrading its 3D infrastructure, with a cost-effective solution that was easy to deploy and maintain. It quickly realised that solely using virtual reality (VR) wouldn’t be suitable. Whilst VR is excellent for creating engaging and interactive environments that simulate real or imaginary experiences, it poses several challenges – particularly in multi-user and collaborative situations.
To complement the existing VR platforms – and to address large-scale multi-user experiences in particular – KTH opted for the passive Infitec 3D projection approach within the VIC, using a 4x2m projection screen in the middle of the studio – which also doubles as a traditional lecture room.
Whereas active 3D projection uses battery-powered shutter glasses that alternately block each eye in sync with a high-frame-rate projector, passive Infitec 3D uses unpowered glasses and relies on specific interference filtering techniques, to separate the images for each eye.
This is achieved by advances in innovative interference filter technology that overcomes previous limitations in colour accuracy and saturation that’s inherent to the older Anaglyph 3D approach. These precisely-engineered interference filters split the visible spectrum into two complementary sets of narrow wavelength bands – one set projected for the left eye, and another for the right.
Users wear matching glasses with filters that ensure each eye only receives its intended wavelengths, allowing the brain to fuse the images into a seamless 3D experience. These glasses are simple to use and cost-effective to produce; they are effectively enhanced versions of glasses used by moviegoers in cinemas. visuals
Whilst it often requires two projectors, passive 3D projection can deliver higher brightness levels, and 4K resolution. Furthermore, passive systems are more cost-effective and easier to maintain. This lowers total cost of ownership, and is much more accessible than active 3D projection set-ups.
Seamless Installation and Configuration
To bring its 3D visualisation to life, KTH chose two compact Panasonic RQ35K 3-Chip DLP™ 4K projectors. Importantly, these were the RQ35K-Infitec 3D models, with factory-fitted Infitec filters, delivering passive 3D projections for KTH immediately after configuration.
Panasonic’s projectors replaced a setup originally tailored to another vendor installed over 10 years ago. Whilst any adjustments in infrastructure is challenging, KTH were able to handle the installation internally – with the help of AV integrator, Atea – configuring the software and stacking the projectors. Thanks to the flexibility of 3D projection, alignment and placement took only about 15 minutes instead of hours.
Even when the projectors were shifted slightly, the KTH team could quickly realign the RQ35Ks, saving significant time. The plug-and-play nature of passive 3D projection also eliminates the need for extra maintenance.
Ingemar Markström, Application Expert at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, comments: “The installation process was remarkably straightforward. Our team handled everything in-house, and the flexibility of 3D projection meant alignment and placement took just minutes rather than hours. The system’s plug-and-play nature continues to save us time, requiring virtually no ongoing adjustments or maintenance.”
Powerful and Compact 3D Projection
Panasonic’s RQ35K 4K projector delivers up to 30,000 lumens of brightness for clear visuals in bright spaces. It supports true 4K resolution, enhanced by Panasonic’s Quad Pixel Drive technology, and is ideal for applications requiring immersive, high-definition visuals. Upon Panasonic’s projectors being used for the first time, the KTH team immediately witnessed a significant increase in picture quality and clarity, contrast, and colour reproduction. Compared to the previous set-up, this enabled them to see details they had never seen before.
For KTH, space was limited in the VIC, necessitating a rear-projected setup. The RQ35K combines high performance and a remarkably compact form factor, as the smallest and lightest 3-Chip DLP™ 4K projector available in its class. This makes it easy to transport and install, especially in small and difficult-to-reach areas.
With Panasonic projectors renowned for very high reliability, and the RQ35 delivering up to 20,000 hours of maintenance-free projection, the KTH team had complete peace-of-mind that its 3D visualisations could be delivered time and time again – maximising user engagement. This also eliminates lamp and filter replacements, reducing downtime, and maintenance and running costs associated with the previous projectors.
Björn Thuresson, Lab Director at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, adds: “Compared to our previous setup, brightness has more than doubled, making it the perfect choice even in well-lit situations. This has transformed the user experience at KTH’s Visualisation Studio, significantly improving engagement and immersion throughout.”
"Compared to our previous setup, brightness has more than doubled, making it the perfect choice even in well-lit situations. This has transformed the user experience at KTH’s Visualisation Studio, significantly improving engagement and immersion throughout"
Lab Director
VIC Studio, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Photos supplied by KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
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