Biowall: a public audiovisual space for the enjoyment and relaxation of the entire community

The biotechnology company United Therapeutics, specialized in medications for patients with chronic diseases, has created an audiovisual space as a meeting and relaxation point that can be freely accessed, starring a large format screen from Planar, called Biowall, showing images of nature and science.

Biowall is an outdoor public audiovisual space located in Silver Spring, in the American state of Maryland, that the company United Therapeutics wanted to donate to the community where its headquarters is located. The objective of this generous initiative has not been, as usually happens, promote the brand of this company through images, corporate videos and messages, but “offering a gift of nature, art and science to the entire community”, says Avi Halpert, vice president of this company.

When those responsible made the decision to create this unique visual space, relaxing and calm, When expanding its headquarters, one of the requirements to install the video screen was that it had to be housed inside the United Therapeutics building, but at the same time it could be viewed outside and was freely accessible.. The system design had to take the form of a corridor, with enough space so that employees and visitors could move without problems while enjoying the images.

With these premises, The managers of this company requested the help of the specialist Avitecture to shape your Biowall, who selected the technology Planar as the most appropriate for this project, since its Matrix system offers optimal resolution and brightness for this space, in which strong ambient light is constant.

This is how Bill Apter explains it, senior special projects consultant at Avitecture: “we examined other screens on the market, but since we saw Planar's Full HD Matrix video wall at InfoComm we knew it was the best solution for this unique space. Its technology has allowed us to configure a great work of visual art that shows in a very beautiful way, serene and even inspiring our world in all its forms”.

Planar Technology

Avitecture has been responsible for the design, supply and installation of Biowall, composed of sixteen Clarity Matrix MX46HD panels from Planar, in configuration 4×4 con 5,5 mm. bevel width, which offers a shine of 800 nits, with a contrast ratio of 3,500:1 and backlight control.

With 24 operation×7, The screen has been mounted on a custom built frame that is suspended from two beams attached to the ceiling, so Biowall can be moved back and forth on a trolley to allow access to the screen without obstructing the outer glass passageway and preventing overheating, thanks to Planar EasyAxis mounting system, allowing technicians to easily access wiring.

The entire electronic system is housed in a rack room, located on a lower floor and separated from the screen. Biowall, which opened on Earth Day, runs 24/7 to display over twenty hours of unique content that is updated frequently, and which in some cases approaches cinematic quality thanks to the contribution of videos and images from AV professionals and amateurs from around the world.

As Randy Scope points out, chief content officer at United Therapeutics, “since we are using high quality video, the screen had to show it optically and spectacularly. At first we decided to use an advanced content management system that went beyond what we really needed and now we have a Max connected to the unit that manages the videos through a playlist in iTunes, which is quite simple and meets our requirements”.

Often, In this relaxing and visual public atrium you can see people resting and watching the spectacular images on the screen, with an ever-changing selection of nature videos, science and art from all over the world.