Panasonic laser projection envelops visitors in 'Welcome to Rome' show

This innovative multimedia space, located in an old cinema in the Italian capital, offers the visitor a tour of the history of this city, in an immersive experience thanks to fifteen Solid Shine PT-RZ570 laser projectors from Panasonic.

The old and renovated Cinema Augustus, in the center of Rome, It is the setting chosen by Paco Lanciano, physicist and scientific communicator, to host your show Welcome to Rome, a multimedia work designed to explain the ancient history of the Eternal City to tourists and Roman citizens in just thirty minutes.

The objective ofWelcome to Rome is to offer a historical framework of Rome, guiding the visitor from the founding of the city to the present day, thanks to high quality projection. “The idea, applied for the first time in Italy, is put into practice through this large comprehensive installation that explains the history and development of the city of Rome - says Lanciano -. The narration guides the audience through voice-overs and images as the historical story unfolds.”.

Distribution of spaces

The space of this immersive experience is distributed in five different areas: a large main room and four smaller ones, designed as antechambers to ease the flow of visitors towards the main cinema room. In total, fifteen Solid Shine PT-RZ570W laser projectors have been installed. Panasonic in these spaces.

In the main room, a cinema with capacity for eighty people, Ten video projectors of the Panasonic model PT-RZ570W and a large sculptural relief have been installed (with a surface of about 35 m2) from the city of Rome.

This is a comprehensive edge blending solution to ensure an immersive effect of your content on visitors.. The multiple projection system is carried out on five different surfaces: two side walls, the ground, the ceiling and sculpture, with which the public is literally surrounded.

“We have placed the public areas as close as possible to the screen, using the typical distribution of IMAX cinemas - Lanciano points out -. Projected images come from a collection of resources, portraits, real paintings and architectural elements. No computer generated graphics have been used, no virtual images: “We have preferred to offer a realistic portrait of the city and thus respect the narrative veracity of the story”.

Luca Altobelli, responsible for BitCodeLab, company that designed and supervised the installation, He adds that the use of these laser projectors “allowed us to eliminate some important pain points during the planning stage.”, since they are very compact and easy to handle. For example, When we installed the projection system in the main room we had no problem placing the equipment in inclined and/or vertical positions”.

The Panasonic PT-RZ570W is a non-interchangeable lens projector, which has been very suitable for the environment of Welcome to Rome. “The museum is completely managed by Remu 2, a guide software developed with my colleagues Francesco Antoniella and Francesco Venturini”, explains Altobelli.

Skirts 2 control the video, the audio, lighting and devices, called Remupersonal, that each visitor receives upon entering to interact with the stations throughout their journey and listen to audio clips in their own language. This software manages presentations in individual 'islands' with a single interface.

“Using a network of sensors, the Remupersonal device identifies the position of the visitor and transfers the data to the central controller, to automatically direct the recording of content –adds this professional-. The lights are controlled with DMX dimmers from the video projectors. The Remu system also manages visitor groups, which improves the coordination of school groups or organized tours”.

Panasonic Solid Shine projectors use laser technology, and the light source has a lifespan of 20.000 hours, avoiding the need to change lamps, to which is added that the air filter does not require maintenance either. These characteristics respond to the needs of Welcome to Rome, designed as a permanent multimedia show, with a durability of about ten years.