Technology
A new dimension opens
t International Confex
2018 in London,
keynote speaker and
media celebrity Janet
Street-Porter appeared as a live and
interactive hologram.
Musion, the company that supplied
the technology for creating the
hologram platform at the UK’s leading
industry tradeshow, has since made
big inroads into the global events
market, providing the technology for
events for Mercedes, PwC and Sky,
among others.
The exhibitions industry is
becoming increasingly competitive
and attracting exhibitors, sponsors,
media and a high footfall of visitors
is a constant challenge, and one
compounded by attracting people to
the exhibitors’ stands.
Many visitors cherry-pick stands
they want to visit, so crowd-drawing
holographic solutions could be a
solution, offering a memorable visual
effect that the visitor can take away
and share on social media. This
technology lends itself best to the
large showcase stands and to new
product launches where crowds need
to be drawn in.
Of course, the right space is
required, certainly for the Musion
Eyeliner Systems that offer life-sized
holographic images. The minimum
area is 7m wide x 5m deep x 5m high
to house the technology, which does
not come cheap. The simplest turnkey
solution, including AV equipment
and content, starts at around £40,000
(US$51,620). Understandbly, not every
exhibitor can afford that.
You must also factor in the value
of time, with set up taking two days,
including rehearsal.
Mercedes, however, used the
technology for its ‘Pilot your Future’
event in Nice, where a 20m x 8m
Musion Eyeliner™ Foil provided the
platform to showcase the company’s
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
commercial trucks in life size.
Musion Eyecandy was used at
NEC’s annual tech showcase in the
UK, allowing GM Neil Hartigan to
deliver a hologrammatic welcome
in the persona of a London
Underground engineer.
At a PwC Global Partner Meeting,
in London’s Tobacco Dock, PwC CEO
Kevin Ellis adopted the hologram
mantle of an all-seeing oracle from
the future for his address, which
featured LED holographic images
combined with side mapping.
Musion has delivered 700
holographic installations for ‘blue
chip’ customers worldwide including
Universal, T-Mobile, Burberry,
Orange, Samsung, Dunhill, Toyota,
Audi, BMW and the BBC, and its
projection system incorporates a
‘performer’s stage’ equipped with
LED lighting and usually boxed with
hard panelling or dark draping along
the sides and back. A polymer screen
Above:
Holographic
technology can
take an event to
another level
sits on a 45-degree angle between the
stage and audience and at least one
high definition video projector or,
alternatively a high-pitch LED screen,
generates ultra-clear 3D images.
Musion returns to International
Confex 26-27 February 2019, at
Olympia London and Director Ian
O’Connell says the partnership with
the tradeshow is “the perfect platform
to demonstrate how holographic
technology can take an event or
campaign to another level, engaging
and exciting audiences who share
and talk about the event years later”.
O’Connell is looking to Confex
next to secure more clients from
the exhibition fraternity: “The event
showcases all the new initiatives
that are available to enhance your
exhibition stands in one location give
you new ideas, helps with planning
and saves time. It is also an ideal
networking platform to meet industry
contacts that can help improve your
visibility in exhibitions,” he says.
In a busy world, speakers and
celebrities do not always have the
time to travel across the world to
speak. Immersive Telepresence
solution makes this possible and
today organisers can transport the
individual live to multiple locations.
This not only makes them accessible
to a wider audience but also reduces
the carbon footprint.
And, as distinct from a boring
video broadcast or crackly satellite
connections, speakers can appear live
any time, any place, anywhere.
Issue 1 2019
63