The National Shrine of Saint John Paul II pays tribute to his work with immersive and interactive technology

Gift from the Vatican to the city of Washington, This center is not only a place where visitors learn the history of the former Pope and his subsequent canonization., but they come there to experience it in tribute with the latest projection and interactive visualization technology from Digital Projection and Planar.

Located a short distance from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., The National Shrine of Saint John Paul II has nine galleries that immerse visitors in his intense life; since his birth in Nazi-occupied Poland, to his later priesthood and ministry as bishop, until the end of his twenty-six-year pontificate, his death in 2005 and his canonization in 2014.

As a gift from the Vatican, its promoters and managers Knights of Columbus (the knights of columbus), They hired the museum design specialist Gallagher & Associates to carry out the renovation of the buildings and launch this sanctuary, which has become not only a tribute to the life and work of Saint John Paul II, but in a place of worship, pilgrimage and education that receives more than eighteen million visitors a year.

This unique installation relies on new visualization technologies to create an immersive and interactive environment with visitors and the story being told., for whose integration Gallagher hired the also North American firm Design & Production.

For this they have built an immersive theater in 180º format, equipped with a large visual mural, made up of five large format screens, covering a total area 3.6×20,7 metros, with the aim of generating an immersive visual environment that transports visitors to Vatican City, specifically, to St. Peter's Square, in front of the basilica of the same name and from whose balcony the then Pope John Paul II blessed the faithful.

To display the contents on this large screen, five projectors from the manufacturer's Titan WUXGA 3D model are used. Digital Projection. As one of its managers explains, “we have this huge circular theater, 180º with absolutely clean lines to project on the entire screen. When this type of installation is carried out, an odd number of projectors is always used. (for three or five screens normally), since if it were even we would have a seam in the center, a stalemate which is precisely where people focus and, if there is any alignment problem, It would be immediately obvious.".

Besides, Gallagher commissioned producer Donna Lawrence to create the content., who formed a team that moved to Rome to collect video and audio files, as well as record images in 5K UHD to promote this immersive experience. Added to this is the position and seating of the theater benches, that place the viewer far enough forward so that the five linked screens completely immerse them in the story, without seeing the edge of the equipment or the image.

As guests walk through the exhibit, access a second theater space, designed to offer a similar experience to the previous space, but on a smaller scale. So, instead of five DPI Titan WUXGA 3D projectors, This area has three teams projecting images of St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, “a much more contemplative space”, as Donna Lawrence describes it, which focuses on the last days as Pope, at his funeral and subsequent canonization as Saint John Paul II.

“With this massive sweep of canvases, We have the opportunity to immerse people in the absolutely unique story of Saint John Paul II - Lawrence emphasizes -, who connected with people in an unprecedented way; as he brought the history of the Catholic Church and Christianity to the masses and, especially, to young people. “Theater has the potential power to tell history in this unique way it had to reach people.”.

The choice of projection systems to show this selected and careful content was also carefully studied., and Digital Projection's Titan WUXGA 3D equipment fulfilled the objective of creating this experience for visitors so that they felt as if they were standing in St. Peter's Square watching his election as Pope and other crucial events in his life..

These compact projectors 3 chips and 20.000 lumens each, with resolution of 1,920×1.200p, aspect ratio 16:10 and contrast of 2.000:1, They feature ColorMax calibration technology to deliver high image quality, “with warp and edge blending capabilities to deal with a 180º curved and wrap-around screen and handle unusual surfaces and geometries, with high image quality and reliability to meet all the special requirements of this show”.

In another room, Visitors have the opportunity to expand the information, learn more details and view other video and audio files through an interactive multi-touch table, a large video wall configured with six Clarity Matrix LCD screens Planar, as well as several high-luminosity 3D architectural and interactive video panels from the Mosaic model from this same manufacturer..