Panasonic helps to immerse visitors in the captivating world of bees at NML

Location: Liverpool, UK

Product(s) supplied: PT-CMZ50 PT-MZ11KL ET-EMU100 ET-EMW500 PT-TMZ400 PT-VMZ61

Challenge

National Museums Liverpool (NML), in partnership with award-winning artist and sculptor, Wolfgang Buttress, wanted to create an industry-first fusion of art, science, and technology across multiple spaces, exploring the different stages of bees’ lives, transporting visitors into a world without bees to highlight their importance to our ecosystem.

Taking advantage of World Museum’s extensive entomology collection and curatorial expertise NML wanted the experience to be as interactive and multi-generational as possible, helping to inspire visitors of all ages with what it’s like to see, hear, and interact with bees.

Solution

This would be achieved across eight immersive areas that showcase the anatomy of bees; their colour, diversity and food production; the hierarchy of bees and their interactions with each other; what it’s like to be inside a colony; what a future without bees would look like; and how humans can individually and collectively act to preserve bee populations for the future.

The variety of each immersive area called for versatile projectors and projection mapping technology, easy to install and maintain, and quiet and unobtrusive – whilst providing stunning visuals that give visitors an unparalleled amount of detail.

"We needed a projector that combined stunning high-brightness, and immersive visuals, whilst emitting low levels of light. Panasonic’s projectors perform brilliantly in this area – our visitors cannot believe how clear and life-like the projections are."

A project five years in the making, NML sought to bring its extensive knowledge of bees to all generations, in an unprecedented manner. It wanted to highlight how bee species worldwide are vital to our way of life, and essential to the planet’s biodiversity – and survival.

With dwindling bee numbers having a profound impact on the natural world, NML wanted to visually present the role that bees play in the environment through a unique combination of high-definition visuals, sound, scents, and light. The goal was to provoke an emotional and stimulating reaction from visitors, making them think about a world without bees, and encouraging them to feel empathy – and understanding – towards the challenges that the 30,000 + species face in their fight to survive.

The NML team turned towards award-winning sculptor and artist, Wolfgang Buttress to bring its vision to life, and to develop the intellectual concept and content for the exhibition. Known for his bee-inspired Hive installation at Kew Gardens, and Beam at Glastonbury Festival, NML tapped into Wolfgang’s relationship with leading curators and entomologists, such as his long-term scientific collaborator and bee communication specialist, Professor Martin Bencsik, to create Bees: A Story of Survival at Liverpool’s World Museum.

Wolfgang Buttress chose a total of 33 Panasonic projectors and its Short- and Ultra-Short Throw (UST) lenses, across five separate zones at Bees: A Story of Survival – consisting of Panasonic’s TMZ400 laser projector; and MZ11KL and CMZ50 LCD projectors. These provide long-lasting brightness and colour performance of up to 11,000 lumens each for NML, allowing images to be seamlessly blended, removing distractions or blemishes that could affect the projection of images for visitors.

The MZ11KL stands out as the world’s smallest, lightest, and quietest LCD projector that can deliver up to 11,000 lumens. Furthermore, all three projectors deliver stunning images that you would typically associate with a bee’s natural environment, with the hues of yellows, oranges, and reds vividly projected.

Ultra Short Throw lenses deliver an immersive experience

Panasonic’s UST lenses and projectors have been central to creating an immersive experience at Bees: A Story of Survival. These lenses allow projectors to be hidden in the ceilings, so as not to distract from the immersive illusion, and to project at incredible angles to surround the visitor without casting shadows.

The clear, crisp, and detailed projections offered by Panasonic’s UST lenses and CMZ50 LCD and TMZ400 laser projectors are crucial in a number of visitor areas at Bees: A Story of Survival. These frequently feature projections that completely envelop and surround the visitor, such as its ‘Meadow’ and ‘Be’ areas.

In the former, Panasonic projectors make visitors feel as if they have been shrunk to the size of a bee, as wildflowers disappear around them – conveying the importance of maintaining bees’ natural environment. The flexibility of the CMZ50 comes to the fore here, with the compact design and UST lenses able to deliver an 80-inch image from a distance of just 1cm.

They are especially effective in areas that are specifically designed to be smaller and intimate, such as ‘Swarm’. This depicts bees leaving the hive, with Panasonic’s UST lenses giving visitors a real sense of depth.

In the latter, Panasonic’s UST lenses enable visitors to get close to the projected images as if they were inside a beehive, allowing the projected pollen within ‘Be’ to dissolve in and out as it moves across the honeycomb beehive structure, as the visitor walks through the space. This is where Panasonic technology projects timelapse videos of bees’ growth, provided by National Geographic, and material from BeeScapes, an interactive, animated 360° virtual reality experience from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Panasonic’s UST lenses provides NML and Wolfgang Buttress with the required peace of mind that projectors can be easily installed in nearly any environment worldwide.

"The technology behind the exhibition is a key part in the way we present the lives of these fascinating creatures to audiences. I was keen to make sure that the technology that we have used is non-intrusive, quiet and robust. Panasonic’s cutting-edge LCD projectors are just one part of the immersive audio visual set-up, creating a multi-sensory experience for visitors"

Panasonic projection mapping a perfect fit

State-of-the-art projection mapping and image blending are core components in each visitor area at Bees: A Story of Survival. Wolfgang Buttress Studio collaborated closely with Mark Calvert, and Dave Green – co-founders of Hive – for three years on the exhibition. This enabled them to create immersive, high-quality projection mapping, blending, and warping and video playback, using Hive Media Engines.

Throughout the exhibition, 44 Hive Beebox Engines delivered high-performance 4K and HD H265 800mbit playback, as well as site-wide video mapping and image warping. These played a crucial role in creating an immersive experience that sees multiple elements, such as pollen, beehives, and wildflowers, interact with each other just as they do in the natural world. In specific areas of the exhibition, Hive Media Engines were also used to synchronise stereo audio with Timecode triggers.

In areas such as ‘Meadow’, projection mapping technology provides 360° visuals, giving visitors the desired feeling of infinity. Furthermore, projection mapping is used to give visitors the sense that bees are crawling over hives, with animated images from Battlecat Studios projected over the honeycomb-like beehive.

A key component of Wolfgang’s design was that all areas featured low light levels – including the light emitted from the projector, which helps to reduce visitor distractions and allow them to be fully immersed in each experience.

"Collaborating with Wolfgang and his incredible creative team allowed Hive to co-create something truly special for this exhibition, of which we are immensely proud. Nature is deeply embedded in the design and architecture of our entire product ecosystem. Hive’s Media Engine is not only user-friendly and affordable but also designed with sustainability at its heart. We believe our values closely align with Wolfgang and NML, enabling us to deliver an authentic and emotional experience that fosters real-world connections. Our hope is to inspire and educate visitors about the critical importance of bees to our planet’s well-being"

Panasonic projectors minimise environmental impact

Environmental impact was an important consideration for NML and Wolfgang Buttress, given the subject matter of bee education and conservation. Panasonic’s MZ11KL projector is the first in the industry to provide up to 11,000 lumens on an AC 100-240-volt input voltage – instead of the typical 200-240 volts. This provides increased installation flexibility, and reduces the need for a high-voltage power supply – further reducing their environmental impact.

The TMZ400, CMZ50, and MZ11KL are easy to transport, install and maintain thanks to their lightweight and compact chassis – reducing transportation and labour costs when the exhibition embarks on its global tour. They are also extremely reliable, with their liquid-cooled design providing up to 20,000 hours of operation, enabling 24/7 continuous projection for the exhibition’s visitors.

All three Panasonic projectors are extremely quiet, with the CMZ50 operating at only 25dB when in ‘QUIET’ mode. This delivers whisper-quiet projections that enables visitors to be fully immersed in each area – especially in zones such as ‘Vanishing’ where NML wants the visitor to quietly contemplate a world without bees, without anything interrupting the experience.

Immersive sound giving visitors the buzz

The discreet nature of Panasonic’s projectors enables visitors to be enveloped by a soundscape, crafted by Wolfgang Buttress’ Karman Line Collective, which accompanies visitors throughout the exhibition – and features the sound of 40,000 bees.

The soundscape is best illustrated in areas such as ‘Symphony’, which features 360° visuals. Using Hive’s NDI capture, visitors can also interact with projected pollen particles that dissipate into each other, creating a dynamic and immersive experience with natural elements.

A sensory, emotional, multi-generational experience

The intention of Bees: A Story of Survival was to create an emotionally engaging and sensory stimulating experience for visitors of all ages, immersing them in the world of bees and encouraging them ask themselves what they can do to help bees thrive.

Bees: A Story of Survival has helped to consolidate NML’s position as one of the leading natural history museums in the U.K, with an active entomology research department. The exhibition has proven popular as an educational and reflective experience for visitors of all ages, including numerous school and university students.

"Creating an emotionally engaging and stimulating experience, that expresses the wonder and diversity of bees, simply wouldn’t be possible without Panasonic’s projectors. Visitors seem visibly moved, and leave the exhibition with a connectedness and desire to act. We also cannot thank the dozens of partners, trusts, entomologists, and experts enough for all that they have given to the exhibition, to make Bees: A Story of Survival just the beginning in educating visitors of all generations on the criticality of these creatures"

Panasonic helps to immerse visitors in the captivating world of bees at NML

Challenge

Solution

Ultra Short Throw lenses deliver an immersive experience

Panasonic projection mapping a perfect fit

Panasonic projectors minimise environmental impact

A sensory, emotional, multi-generational experience

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