Laser and immersive projection to promote communication on university campuses

An informative and interactive wall, which combines the latest Sony laser projection technology and Microsoft Kinect motion sensor technology, serves as an attraction to show works, projects and the educational system of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology to new students and visitors, in which they can also take a virtual and immersive tour of its seven academic campuses.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, known by its acronym NTNU (The Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and located in the town of Trondheim, It is the second most important nationally and the first in the field of technology, whose objective is to attract the best students and workers to their classrooms.

In this sense, Those responsible have always opted to be at the forefront of technology to have a modern research and teaching infrastructure., with which to effectively train your students and respond to the demand of the labor market, creating a foundation for knowledge-based business development, innovation and creativity.

Made up of seven campuses, the Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering (DO) carries out projects in the country regarding data engineering, information sciences, mathematics, communication technology, technical cybernetics and electrical engineering.

Every year, hundreds of prospective students and other guests visit the IME and, precisely for this reason, Those responsible decided to create an interactive and visual exhibition area at its main entrance to show these works and capture their interest in training at the center..

The installation to welcome students and visitors to the IME features an informative and interactive wall that combines laser projection technology from Sony and the motion sensor Microsoft Kinect, showing images of events, student activities and projects and other relevant faculty information.

For this, a projector with a 3LCD laser light source is used., specifically the Sony VPL-FHZ700L model, Supplied and installed by your dealer Caverion, which offers a shine of 7.000 in the snow (to date the highest luminosity of its type on the market) with WUXGA resolution.

The choice of this model responds to several reasons. One of them is that the entrance to the IME is exposed to intense sunlight for much of the day., Therefore, this 3LCD laser projector had to withstand this lighting challenge by counteracting it with especially high brightness to offer clear and sharp images in any light condition during operation..

Added to this was the fact that the system had low maintenance costs., primarily in terms of lamp replacement and advanced energy saving features.

The Sony VPL-FHZ700L model met these requirements, since it is operating ten hours a day throughout the week in the IME and this projector operates for about 20.000 hours without maintenance.

Day Nummedal, NTNU chief engineer, explains it like this: “We chose Sony because we needed a high level of brightness, low operating cost and reliable operation. We hope that the projector and the rest of the installation will be so powerful that our visitors will enjoy our information wall whenever they come.”.

In addition to the slideshow in the form of images, the information wall features an interactive 3D model of the NTNU main building, thanks to which visitors can take a virtual tour of the entire building with the help of the Kinect motion sensor.

When a person stands in front of the information wall, The sensor detects movement and the 3D system is activated. Then, The person can control the presentation with their hands and explore the 3D model to become more familiar with the main building of the university.

The information wall was installed at the IME in September 2014 and since then it has become an essential element of communication and an important tool for internal and external marketing of the university., which plans to develop it in the future to display even more interactive content.

Those responsible for NTNU have valued laser projection technology as one of the most important advances in audiovisual technology in recent years, recognizing the advantages of investing in it, which has materialized with the installation at the end of last year of fourteen laser projectors in its meeting rooms and auditoriums.