WSDG helps create an immersive 360º experience in Rhyality

He Rhyality Immersive Art Hall offers an immersive journey that spectacularly showcases the sights and sounds of the Rheinfall Falls. To carry it out, we have relied on experience in acoustics and design of sound systems. WSDG.

Enough Architecture has turned to WSDG to create an experience of 360 degrees in one of Europe's natural treasures. Located in the north of Switzerland, the Rhine Falls It is one of the largest waterfalls in Europe and attracts thousands of visitors every year who come to contemplate its natural beauty.

Rhyality Immersive Art Hall, Located just above the falls within a converted industrial complex, seeks to share this experience throughout the year in a new way. Offers a fully immersive journey that spectacularly showcases the sights and sounds of the falls, Using the most innovative audio and video technology from 360 degrees to bring this experience to life.

The project was conceived by conceptual artist and film producer Beat Toniolo and local tourism entrepreneur Hanspeter Weder, who brought in the architecture studio Dost Architektur to make their vision of the complex a reality.

This study brought together a diverse team of experts to carry out the work and used its usual collaborators, WSDG (Walters-Storyk Design Group), to contribute their experience in acoustics and system design to the project.

A vision of a natural wonder

The foundation of the visitor experience at Rhyality is the main hall, with capacity for 200 personas, in which the visual works of the immersive art room, specifically his flagship work: The Rhine Falls in 4 stations.

This represents a year in the life of the falls through a combined presentation of video compositions, music, field recordings and narration.

Design an intuitive visitor experience, Fitting into the complex's existing rooms was a major concern of Dost's project managers..

“The existing space was a kind of blank canvas that had to be prepared for an experience of 360 degrees”, explains Julian Tschanen, Dost project manager and interior designer. “A very multidisciplinary approach was necessary to create the right atmosphere that, besides, had an obvious flow for visitors coming in to live the experience. From the beginning, We thought it would be a very collaborative project that would benefit from many different minds coming together to make it a reality.”.

For the task of acoustic and electroacoustic engineering of the room, that would be necessary to design immersive audio and video systems critical for presentation, Dost turned to his WSDG partners, who have created similar immersive solutions in places like the Qatar National Museum, he Shanghai State Grid Pavilion and the Aura Club event hall.

“In the case of Rhyality we had to face the challenge of what it means to make sound of 360 degrees”, explains Tschanen. “We always take acoustics and system design into account from the beginning in projects like these, and we often turn to WSDG to provide us with the necessary expertise. It was a fundamental part of the vision for this project and our collaboration with them allowed us to develop it together”.

behind the scenes

Rhyality's acoustic design posed the challenge of how to design a room with proper acoustics without projection screens on the walls causing unwanted reflections that disrupt the experience..

To solve this problem, the WSDG team recommended a special theatrical fabric manufactured by Gerriets to achieve the desired effect.

“The proper use of materials in these projects can make a big difference in their functionality.”, comment Gabriel Hauser, Director of Acoustics at WSDG. “The advantage of this special fabric is that it is suitable for projection but also acoustically transparent.”, which means we can use it for both purposes without the absorption treatment or speakers being visible to visitors. Everything is hidden behind the screen, which keeps the experience completely fluid”.

The Rhyality speaker design was created in collaboration with Holophonix and use 98 speakers in total for a fully immersive audio experience. Behind the walls are two layers, one to 1,2 meters and the second 3,2 meters high, plus ceiling speakers for a third level of height.

All speakers feature a coaxial design to enable precise and unusually wide off-axis response. Thanks to Dante Backbone and at acoustically transparent projection screens, You can easily add speakers when needed.

The Holophonix processor allows up to 128 playback channels and is capable of using all relevant immersive algorithms, as Wave Field Synthesis (WFS), Ambisonics and others, along with a powerful multi-channel algorithmic reverb engine.

The installation of the system was carried out by Bild+Ton. “This is our first project using Holophonix technology and was extremely effective in producing the desired immersive experience.”, explains Hauser. “Holophonix's approach was profitable, especially considering the availability of 128 audio channels in output section (Dante format). Besides, is part of Amadeus Audio, a French speaker manufacturer, y, therefore, can offer a tailored system from start to finish. Direct support provided through Holophonix (Paris), including many software updates, as well as the local Swiss distributor of Amadeus Audio”.

Expanding the possibilities

Rhyality, currently operated and curated by art director Devon Miles, has become a popular destination and has expanded its offerings to include other immersive video presentations, in addition to serving as an event room.

“The idea evolved from a temporary space to a permanent one with very broad possibilities of use thanks to the vision of the team we coordinated and brought together.”, afirma Tschanen. “It went from a blank canvas of an idea to a blank canvas of an inspiring space that can be used for a wide range of interesting presentations and event programming.”.