Laser the key to experiential success

Technology experiences are becoming more commonplace in the entertainment market. This year at ISE, Panasonic teamed up with master projection designer Bart Kresa to create a projection mapping showpiece for over 100,000 people.

‘Sviatovid’ is a faceted, five-metre tall projection sculpture, and a successor to the iconic Shogyo Mujo, which debuted at the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA in 2014.

Marking the launch of the new BARTKRESA Academy, the sculpture creates a new benchmark in audiovisual art and is illuminated through 360° in True 4K, using four Panasonic 30,000lm laser projectors.

For Bart, the use of 4K made a major difference to the audience experience. Compared to those used on his previous sculptures, the projectors were able to render more details and bring the audience closer to the action, making the experience more immersive and engaging.

Panasonic already offers 4K for its 10,000, 20,000 and 30,000lm class projectors but there are plans to expand on this further in the future.

The installation comes at an interesting time for the industry, as boundaries are pushed and the popularity of projection mapping grows. Panasonic research shows that a quarter of the industry is already seeing annual growth in projection mapping projects of more than 50 percent.

The benefits in regards to the total reliability and lower maintenance of the laser platform are self-evident. In my opinion, this is behind the increasing number of semi-permanent and permanent mappings that become commercially viable thanks to the improved operation of laser projectors.

As producing content in all sorts of new forms becomes simpler to achieve, we are seeing costs falling and quality rising. As a result, they become increasingly attainable for smaller organisations and are on the way to achieving mass popularity for commercial, educational and cultural applications.

Creating technology-driven experiences will ultimately contribute to the ability of these organisations to stand out and hence to their power to attract their target groups.

Away from experiential usage, we also see that laser projection is creating new markets within different sectors too. At ISE 2019, we also demonstrated how laser projection is opening up opportunities within retail and other signage applications. 

There’s an increasing convergence of different AV equipment, for instance, projectors, PTZ cameras and flat-panel displays combine within corporate and education environments and projection and display technology are mixed for eye-catching public displays.

The latest market stats put Panasonic’s market share in Europe for above 5000 lumens laser projection at nearly 44 percent and we are looking to build on that with the introduction of a number of new units which will fulfil the growing need for 4K laser projection. And we’ve responded to numerous customer requests with the launch of three new zero offset lenses enabling installations where every inch of available screen surface is used, in places where it was previously impossible, such as store windows, museum corridors, inside theme-park attractions and in exhibition spaces. This is a game-changer in terms of the scope of installations that our loyal customers will be able to achieve and will ensure their customers are never short-changed when it comes to their experience.

The sculpture is now installed at the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin, Poland.