Combining art and entertainment

Combining Art and Entertainment

It was the desire to stretch the envelope of the rental and staging sector that led us to collaborate with Balich for their new approach to the entertainment, which they’ve labelled Artainment!

‘Guidizio Universale. Michelangelo and the secrets of the Sistine Chapel’ is a show in Rome by  Marco Balich, the artistic director and producer of the Olympic ceremonies in Turin 2006 and Rio 2016, which aims to bridge the gap between culture and AV technology, thus ‘Artainment’.

This saw a 270-degree projection within the Sistine Chapel, marking the important phases of Michelangelo’s life alongside his most famous works.

Panasonic was proud to adopt this new terminology and to showcase how our technology can play a role in creating totally immersive experiences with the arts. When the show launched in March, Marco Balich commented, “Without access to the very latest technology, we could never have succeeded in giving concrete expression to our vision, using immersive 270° projection to engage new generations and enrich their knowledge with the artistic masterpieces from the past.”

Far from being a supporting cast member responsible for creating backdrops and adding colour to the stage, projection plays a lead role and makes every wall within the Auditorium Conciliazione a surface for rich video content.

Trend towards tracking

Another innovation, that we reflected on our booth at ISE 2018, is the move towards 3D projection mapping and tracking. This type of AV solution combines tracking software combined with media servers and laser projection. It was utilised successfully for the Fast and the Furious live tour, where 48 high brightness projectors blended two projection surfaces – the arena floor and a back wall, while also live mapping 42 cars driving around the venue in real-time.

As a result, a Hollywood blockbuster was transported from the big screen to a live environment, allowing fans to see a new form of immersive experience featuring their favourite characters and cars.

Such large scale events are complicated and costly. For me, the obvious next step is to combine simple tracking technology with projectors so that on a smaller scale, it’s possible for simple content to be projected real-time on to actors and performers as part of the event.

Panasonic showcased something akin to this at its recent Cross Value Innovation Forum in Tokyo. 4K projection was combined with additional sensor technology to bring a wow effect to live and sporting events.

We have a phrase within Panasonic, which is the freedom to create. The thinking behind it is that our technology is so solid and reliable that it allows people to concentrate on their creativity. We are convinced that our technology is the platform on which creatives such as Balich can create new methods of entertainment.