The Bigger Blog

Views, thought leadership, published articles & maybe even some shark facts!

CURIOUS CUTS & DIAMOND DEMOS

rob November 10, 2015

This year’s Curious Arts Festival, in the idyllic grounds of Pylewell Park, Lymington, was retro heaven – despite excellent performances from several new artists. After enjoying a magnificent set by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera – faithful Roxy renditions with a Latin lick – we were treated to a an explosive gig from Dire Straits’ John Illsley, swinging like a true sultan.

And it that weren’t enough, I was lucky enough to shake the Godlike guitar hand of Dave Gilmour, who was in attendance. There aren’t many hi-fi aficionados who wouldn’t include the awesome Dark Side of the Moon on their shortlist of demonstration discs – I’m probably in the minority.

Personally I’ve always tried to avoid the more obvious demo albums (Dark Side included), but then many years as a tech journalist can do that to you; there are only so many times one can bear to hear the same old songs during demos.

And although the comforting familiarity of tracks such as Floyd’s Time allows us to make mental comparisons when choosing new kit, there’s always the danger of over-familiarity: do those speakers really sound as good as you think there are, or is Time playing tricks on you? Time is such a good recording that perhaps it is possible to make an audio silk purse out of a sow’s ear (although perhaps Pigs on the Wing would be a better suited!).

So if not Dark Side of the Moon or Led Zep II, what do I use as demo discs and how do I select them?

Firstly, as mentioned above, I avoid the demo clichés. That discounts Dark Side and a raft of 70s classics. Secondly, I like to have a number of new or recent releases: If we’re truly serious about hi-fi, serious about upgrades to our system, we should continue to buy the best new music too.

My third rule is that my demo discs must also include older music; not the obvious stuff and not necessarily anything from the 70s. Some of the best vocal performances are on cuts of vinyl from the 50s and early 60s – essential for rating a system’s clarity.

Fourthly, I mix up my styles, to ensure that there’s light and shade; something you might struggle with if you’re only interested in prog rock, for instance.

Finally, my demo LPs all have one thing in common: they’re excellent recordings. I’m a huge Fall fan, but Mark E Smith’s love of low-fi recording techniques doesn’t really allow quality hi-fi to shine – no matter how good the songs are. I also avoid punk and today’s punk-ethos bands such as Sleaford Mods (although I love their work).

I should point out that none of my current demo discs of choice – perhaps with the exception of Blue Lines – would make my list of top 50 LPs, and that’s essential. Like over-familiarity, too much fondness for a record can cloud your demo vision – not ideal when road-testing equipment upgrades. Plus, of course, if your goal is to show off your system to friends and family, it should be the kit and not your fave music that is on trial. After all, you can always pop a cork and dim the lights later on for 42 minutes and 59 seconds of Dark Side brilliance…

By Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane. This is an abridged version of a commissioned piece for the September 2015 edition of Hi-Fi Choice magazine.

EXTERITY: BRINGING BUSINESS COMMS TO LIFE WITH VIDEO

rob October 30, 2015

Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane donned his journo hat to interview Colin Farquhar, CEO of Exterity, for AV magazine’s AV in Corporate supplement, bundled with the mag’s Oct/Nov 2015 edition. This is an abridged extract; you can read the full version here.

Exterity provides innovative IP video solutions that sit directly on top of existing corporate networks, enabling the secure, company-wide distribution of high quality TV and video. The company’s regional partners comprise AV distributors, resellers, systems integrators and specialist consultants, and Exterity’s StreamForce Channel Program supports them with technical, sales, marketing support and training increasingly important in the evolving corporate world.

“Sharing information, motivating staff and providing ongoing training are all key to the success of corporate enterprises,” explains Colin Farquhar, CEO of Exterity. “With today’s employees deluged by meetings and email, video is becoming an increasingly efficient way to communicate more effectively with staff, wherever they are located.”

Exterity’s solutions are used to stream live and archived news, distribute on demand video content and training materials, or to relay company-wide briefings and events to TVs, PCs and mobile devices.

“Our systems are flexible and scalable, enabling them to fit any size of installation or number of devices,” continues Farquhar. “Organisations can easily customise the look and feel of a channel, integrating corporate branding to meet their specific requirements.

“Indeed, corporate and financial institutions around the world rely on Exterity systems to communicate with, train and stimulate their organisations.”

Global companies are able to ensure that corporate headquarters stay connected with satellite offices by screening live, international televised events in any location, track breaking news on trading floor screens and stream global events or training straight to monitors, PCs and compatible mobile devices in any location. “This is essential to keep decision-makers updated and to reach remote workers and staff travelling at any given time,” says Farquhar.

Exterity also enables seamless integration with complementary technologies, such as digital signage systems, allowing organisations to deliver a complete, feature-rich solution. Exterity also integrates advanced conditional access controls to better monitor content and authorisations. Built-in Digital Rights Management (DRM) and security technologies such as support for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection v2 (HDCPv2) also ensure that organisations meet the increasingly stringent content protection demands of content owners. By combining these technologies, Exterity ensures that premium video and TV content distribution is secure.

BOOMTIME FOR COMMERCIAL AV

rob October 28, 2015

Demand for video conferencing installations has spiked in recent years, as an increasing number of corporations specify VC tech for headquarters and satellite offices, driven by the demand for collaborative solutions.

Unsurprisingly, the UK’s leading AV distributors and integrators are benefiting from this upturn in conferencing activity, as well as the associated boom in wider corporate AV specification – allowing even companies that don’t engage directly with VC to benefit. But will the boom last and what else is in store?

Strategic research and business consultants Acclaro Growth Partners certainly think so. Last year, it predicted that the commercial AV market is set to become a $114 billion global industry by 2016 – an 11% compound annual growth in demand for AV products and services since 2012 – with further industry growth anticipated.

The Acclaro Growth Partners 2014 Global AV Market Definition and Strategy Study, conducted on behalf of InfoComm International, reckons growth of conferencing, signal management, AV acquisition and delivery equipment, plus streaming media, is the main driver. It is currently the only worldwide study aimed at sizing the commercial AV industry.

Unsurprisingly, increased collaboration is seen as a key reason behind the boom. “The AV industry is strong, thanks to a rebounding economy and a growing need for collaboration,” David Labuskes (CTS, RCDD) Executive Director and CEO for InfoComm International explained on release of Acclaro’s findings.

Of course, ‘collaboration’ essentially equates to meeting rooms – from so-called ‘huddle spaces’ to larger conference suites – with VC, touch technology et al coming together to generate the corporate AV boom we’re experiencing. And if these meeting spaces are a barometer for sustained growth in the sector, it certainly looks like the future is rosy.

Sam Baker, Group Sales Director at Steljes, told me that – based on research by Wainhouse Research, Hoovers, Herman Miller and Futuresource – the UK has a market potential of 4.3million meeting spaces.

She reckons we’re on the cusp of a “revolution” in working practices, with more personal devices in the workplace, a growth in flexible working and increased collaboration solutions and cloud-based tools and services.

Baker: “Obviously, technology will be at the heart of this working revolution, but those that supply and implement the technology will be just as – if not more – influential.”

Wayne Mason, Head of Group Products & Marketing, Imago ScanSource, agrees that we’re currently witnessing a corporate AV “explosion” – in the video conferencing market in particular.

“I’ve been working in and around video conferencing for 20 years, and things have never been this exciting. Previously, people have talked about a ‘breakthrough year’, but although there have been some spikes allowing us to grow the market, it’s only now we’re seeing an explosion. The market will continue to evolve and ultimately the demands of the corporate market will be fulfilled.”

Other key industry players concur, predicting even more lucrative times ahead as the corporate market grows into the evolving technology that’s now available, and the technology responds to this increased demand by evolving still further.

By Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane. This is an abridged version of a commissioned piece for Installation magazine, November 2015. Read the full version on the Installation website.

COLLABORATION GAME CHANGER?

rob October 20, 2015

The corporate AV market is currently experiencing significant developments, in both technology and the way technology is deployed. Indeed, the sector is arguably leading the way with technology consumption, with huge tech brands such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft committed to corporate AV solutions.

The latter has, of course, recently announced delays in the introduction of its Surface Hub ‘collaboration device’, despite taking orders from July 1. Rumours are that Microsoft has run into a few manufacturing problems as a result of high demand, but this is just reading between the lines of the company’s delay announcement:

“Based on the early interest we see, we’re tuning our manufacturing process to prepare for production at broader scale. To do this, we are adjusting our product roll-out schedule.”

Whatever the real reasons behind the delay, what’s now certain is that we won’t see Surface Hub in corporate meeting rooms until Q1 2016 at the earliest. “We will not start shipping on September 1 now,” Brian Hall, general manager for Surface explained in his blog post. “We’ll have more details on our updated shipment schedule in early August. In the meantime, we will continue to take pre-orders.”

True to his word, the blog post was updated on August 12, confirming that the devices won’t begin shipping until January 2016. It continues to be a long road to market for this product, especially if you see its gestation as being around the time that Microsoft bought Perceptive Pixel in 2012. Regardless, of the delays though, the corporate AV market is certainly excited about Surface Hub, with Simon Fagan, Director at Maverick UK calling it “revolutionary”.

The new 55” and 84” touch-screen solution has been designed for today’s tech-savvy workplaces and is said to combine all conference room components into one collaborative device. According to Microsoft, it adds “the best group productivity and collaboration device to the most productive personal devices in the world”.

Utilising applications such as Windows 10, Office and Skype for Business, Surface Hub is designed around a highly responsive screen built for ink and touch. Both 55” and 84” versions are integrated with optically bonded displays capable of detecting 100 points of multi-touch and up to three simultaneous pen inputs, as well as dual 1080p front-facing video cameras, and a four-element microphone array that detects and follows voice to eliminate background noise during videoconferencing sessions.

“Microsoft Surface Hub is a fundamental step change in integrated technology,” Fagan told me. “It’s revolutionary and will allow video conferencing and sharing to screen from home work stations to become commonplace, thanks to the delivery of full communication and collaboration functionality through the highest quality touch interface.

“It’s a game changer, a complete solution for businesses that wish to reduce the management costs of AV and VC systems by combining conference room components into one collaborative device. It is built upon features that make it unlike any in the market, including the digital whiteboard experience, real-time collaboration and meeting interface.”

Revolutionary. Game-changer. Fundamental step change. We’ll have to wait until next year to find out if these eulogies are accurate.

By Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane. This is an edited version of a commissioned piece for Installation magazine, October 2015. Read the full version in the digital edition or on the Installation website.

MIDWICH: SOLUTIONS SPECIALISTS

rob October 20, 2015

Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane donned his journo hat to interview Jon Dew-Stanley and Scott Pollard from Midwich Group for AV magazine’s AV in Corporate supplement, bundled with the mag’s Oct/Nov 2015 edition. This is an abridged extract; you can read the full version here.

The Midwich solutions team is a technical division of Midwich Group, a leading trade-only AV distributor of products from over 225 vendor brands in to the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. It supplies AV equipment to over 8,000 trade installers, integrators and VAR (value added reseller) clients in the UK, operating in the corporate, education, retail, hospitality and public sectors, and boasts new digital marketing activities in vertical markets, including corporate.

Drawing together expertise from True Colours and RW Salt, the Midwich solutions team specialises in supporting the interconnectivity of multiple AV products to build systems for its extensive client base. It provides and distributes technical products combined together as solutions, to trade integrators, resellers and channel partners: technical video; control and audio systems; IP signal distribution for digital signage; corporate communications; video conferencing; audio networking; and video distribution.

“Our goal is to add value beyond pure distribution to ensure that, at an application level, products will interconnect for a client to achieve the desired functionality,” explains Jon Dew-Stanley, director of the solutions division at Midwich.

“As a group we have an extensive, unrivalled portfolio – combined with our investment in technical resources we have all of the tools required to provide support to our trade clients. This allows them to rely on us and act upon their customers’ needs and select the best audio visual solution to meet them.”

Such is the close relationships with its trade clients, we are often invited on site to discuss a given project – the group prides itself on relationships over the long term as a ‘trusted adviser’, and offers project support ‘from the ground up’.

“We have found that our clients do not have infinite resource and welcome the support that the new Midwich solutions team offer their teams to deliver innovative technical audio visual systems for their clients,” continues Dew-Stanley.

“From our extensive portfolio we are able to take a client’s brief and advise on which manufacturers’ products will best suit the project core needs,” adds Scott Pollard, head of solutions sales.

Midwich solution specialists assist trade audio visual partners such as integrators and resellers in understanding the requirements of a corporate client, advising, proposing, specifying and realising technical and commercial systems as a reality.

The team helps its customers to “scope out” the technical answer to a project and add value by providing clear documentation and technical support that meets the brief. Their value added approach gives clients and stake holders more than just access to product, it gives confidence that the products will do what the brief demands.

BIGGER THAN LIFE

rob August 28, 2015

The news that Holo-Gauze was recently used as part of Damon Albarn’s musical reworking of Alice in Wonderland, wonder.land, at the Manchester International Festival (the musical transfers to the National in London from November 27^th) illustrates how holographic technologies and solutions continue to fascinate and entertain the general public.

A highly transparent, lightweight metallic gauze, Holo-Gauze is designed to be used with 3D polarised projection systems (using 3D anaglyph glasses) but can also be used to create lifelike 2D holograms – so ideal for on-stage effects or holographic versions of people. It has often been likened to Pepper’s Ghost, but it’s actually quite different, and has been showcased as a new technology on both Channel 4’s Gadget Man and Channel 5’s Gadget Show this year.

Other holographic systems for the stage are evolutions of the 400-year-old conjuring trick that had its heyday in Victorian times, utilising mirrors false rooms’ and manipulated viewing angles and lighting to create the illusion that something is appearing in a different space.

Pepper’s Ghost systems include London-based Musion’s MDH (Musion Das Hologram) technology, which – working with Hologram USA, which bought the rights to MDH in North America – brought Tupac Shakur back to life for the 2012 Coachella Music & Arts festival; and Digital Domain Group, which did a similar thing in the same year with a hologram of Elvis Presley. And at the Billboard Music Awards in 2014, Optimum Productions, Pulse Evolution and Tricycle Logic brought Michael Jackson to the stage.

It might be old tech then, but Pepper’s Ghost-style technology is very much alive and kicking. Indeed, Musion is more than happy to promote the relationship, stating that it “pioneered the evolution of the Pepper’s Ghost illusion… transforming it by utilising the latest HD technology.”

And recent acrimony in the States underlines just how much life there yet is in this Victorian favourite. Following attempts by Hologram USA owner Alki David to put a stop to the Michael Jackson Billboard appearance, claiming it infringed the patented tech he’d licensed from Musion, Pulse Evolution filed a $10m lawsuit against him for “falsely claimed credit” with regard to the visual effects used during the Billboard event.

But, Holo-Gauze aside, are there other stage-friendly solutions that don’t rely on Pepper’s Ghost? It certainly appears so. ARHT Media recently ‘Holo-Ported’ life coach Tony Robbins live on stage to Oz from Miami as a HumaGram for his latest Business Mastery event. Video footage of the event appears to show Robbins being projected (or ‘Holo-Ported’!) on to a transparent display that appears to function in a similar way to Holo-Gauze.

So, in terms of stage-event-based holograms it appears that if it’s not Pepper’s Ghost, it’s got to be some sort of projection system combined with a highly transparent display, such as Holo-Gauze. It remains to be seen how many of the more traditional Pepper’s Ghost-style solutions will be left operational if litigation steals the limelight…

By Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane. This is an edited version of a commissioned piece for for Installation magazine, August 2015. Read the full version in the digital edition or on the Installation website.

HOLO-GAUZE CREATES HOLOGRAPHIC MAGIC

rob July 22, 2015

Holo-Gauze, the renowned 3D display solution for hologram effects, has been instrumental in realising the video projection effects for Damon Albarn’s modern musical reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland, wonder.land.

Having appeared at Manchester’s Palace theatre until July 12^th as part of the Manchester International Festival, the musical is set to transfer to London’s National Theatre from November 27^th. A co-production between National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris, scriptwriter Moira Buffini and Albarn, who wrote the score, the show’s projections are by 59 Productions, with Lysander Ashton acting as creative director.

In wonder.land, Lewis Carroll’s fantasy world becomes an online game, to which Aly, who is bullied at school and unhappy at home, escapes. However, some of the people Aly meets online – Dum, Dee, the Cheshire Cat and Red Queen – seem curiously familiar… A trailer, showing some examples of the visual effects projected onto Holo-Gauze, can be viewed here.

“I am delighted that wonder.land’s producers and 59 Productions opted to use Holo-Gauze to help realise their visual effects,” says Holo-Gauze founder and Holotronica MD Stuart Warren-Hill. “Holo-Gauze is the ideal solution for live events, allowing participants to make presentations behind our near-invisible gauze while informative and entertaining holographic effects appear to float in front and around them – as seen in the wonder.land trailer. Indeed, Holo-Gauze continues to be the solution of choice for live holographic effects.”

Launched to market last September, Holo-Gauze immediately received global praise for enabling the creation of the world’s biggest, brightest, highest-resolution indoor hologram effect during superstar DJ Eric Prydz’s EPIC 3.0 show at Madison Square Garden. The performance utilised a 20x 5metre Holo-Gauze screen displaying huge hologram effects, including a giant helix, huge speaking head, and numerous rotating particle effects. It featured on both Channel 4’s Gadget Man and Channel 5’s Gadget Show this year, and produced visuals for the story of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity at May’s World Science Festival in NYC.

For further information on Holo-Gauze, click here.

COLLABORATION IS KEY

rob July 9, 2015

Demand for video conferencing (VC) installations and their broader-remit, broader-tech siblings the so-called ‘corporate collaboration suites’ has spiked considerably in the last couple of years, as more and more companies demand sophisticated tech for their corporate headquarters and satellite offices. It’s easy to see why. A recent global study, commissioned by video conferencing experts Polycom and conducted by Quocirca Ltd, found that more than 90% of those who regularly use video to collaborate are experiencing higher productivity, better teamwork, financial savings and reduced travel expenses. Over 80% directly link their fiscal savings to making faster business decisions and improving employee work/life balance.

Another recent survey from Redshift research, again commissioned by Polycom, found that 56% of business leaders and managers expect video to be their most preferred collaboration tool by 2016.

According to Tim Stone, Polycom Vice President Marketing for EMEA, organisations are beginning to see beyond the traditional perceived benefits of collaboration solutions such as reduced travel costs, “which means the decision to implement video solutions is not just sitting with facilities or IT”.

He continues: “As video becomes adopted by multiple functions within an organisation, true collaboration can be realised. Examples include product teams bringing innovation to market faster, managers mentoring their colleagues and executives connecting with their teams, the ability to enable better internal and employee communications as well as sophisticated content sharing.”

Video meeting rooms (or VMRs) are becoming increasingly popular with companies, especially in ‘huddle rooms’ intended for smaller groups – four or less. Indeed, Polycom recently launched its RealPresence Group Convene and Polycom Roundtable 100 for Skype for Business to cater to the industry demand for huddle space collaboration solutions.

Another major growth area is software-based video solutions, or Video-as-a-Service (VaaS), allowing users to collaborate via laptops, tablets and smartphones whilst on the move.

In addition, the popularity of flexible working continues to grow, in the UK especially, since the launch of the flexible working regulation in 2014. “What this means for corporates is that flexible working combined with affordable mobile video becomes the lowest common denominator for any meeting whereas a few years ago it would have been an audio call,” explains Stone.

Of course, reduced costs are key too. Marc Coleman, Sales Director for Feltech, part of the global-reach GPA (Global Presence Alliance), reckons that cost reduction has a big part to play in the broadening appeal of video conferencing. “Conferencing is becoming a nearly-free part of other platforms, which of course lowers cost per head. Given that conferencing tech adoption in the personal lives of employees is significantly further advanced, cost per head becomes the key factor for advancement in the corporate arena.”

He adds that a number of ‘impactors’ are affecting the VC market, with unified communication (UC) platforms and cloud-based services set to make a significant difference, alongside Skype for Business.

“In addition, LED screens used internally in boardrooms and auditoria are proving disruptive against traditional technologies. This is likely to increase significantly in the next two years,” explains Coleman.

Another big influencer on the growth of VC is the holistic approach many companies are taking to the installation process, which in turn has helped expand video conferencing into the more expansive corporate collaboration model.

AVMI (formally AVM Impact) devises solutions that help its clients to realise pre-designed and validated approaches. Its True Collaboration suite of solutions is the result of a programme of close working with experts in HR, ‘Agile Working’, office design and IT, together with major AV, VC and office furniture suppliers.

“Our portfolio takes corporate collaboration to a new level, enabling organisations to drive through meeting productivity on a global scale,” says AVMI Commercial Director Terry Wilson.

“AVMI’s solutions allow companies to bypass the whole design process from first principles. Also, by being contained within a full service model, life-cycle cost of ownership is driven down together with a higher level of service availability.”

Similarly, Oblong’s Mezzanine corporate collaboration solution provides an effective way to simultaneously engage multiple users – including those working remotely – with their own devices in a shared visual space. This collaborative integration of multiple locations, users, devices and information is referred to by Oblong as ‘Infopresence’

This is all good news for integrators and manufacturers, and it’s perhaps no surprise that a growing number of traditionally experiential installers are looking to expand away from their roots to employ a business model that is more focused on conferencing and corporate collaboration. Perhaps the best example is Engage Works, formally Engage Production, which is looking to continue building upon it successes integrating huge video wall installations with conferencing and data technology.

As Engage Works founder and CEO Steve Blyth explains: “Conferencing and collaboration represent a burgeoning market for integrators and we continue to see increased demand from huge, global corporations for complex, intelligent communication solutions. I don’t anticipate any slowdown in this sector, rather exponential growth over the next few years and beyond.”

By Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane. This is an edited version of a piece commissioned for Installation magazine, July 2015. Read the full version in the digital edition or on the Installation website.

OCULUS RIFT: PARADIGM SHIFT

rob July 1, 2015

When the $2billion Facebook deal to buy Oculus Rift was made public late afternoon on March 25^th 2014, I was wearing my PR hat, gently encouraging journalists to attend the launch of the FLUX Innovation Lounge on the 26^th. We already had very healthy attendance confirmations, but when the balloon went up on the Oculus purchase my iPhone exploded into life. All those that had previously said they were too busy to attend the launch were suddenly, miraculously available. The reason? We had an Oculus Rift alongside the other interactive tech.

So far, so predictable. After all, this was a truly huge global news story. What’s more interesting is that most of the journalists who were suddenly free to attend the launch were interested in OR for the same reasons that the previously confirmed-to-attend journos had been – which were, by and large, also the same reasons why Mark Zuckerberg had decided to fork out a gob-smacking $2billion to own it. In other words, not necessarily gaming.

As Zuckerberg commented on – you’ve guessed it! – Facebook, when the acquisition was announced: “This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life.”

Okay, very Facebook-speak, ‘sharing with friends’, yada yada, and of course he discusses gaming as well, but the key phrase here is ‘new communication platform’ with ‘experiences’ the key word. Indeed, Zuckerberg talks of making Oculus “a platform for many other experiences”, adding:

“Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face.”

So, clearly, as we’re all well aware, Oculus Rift is an exciting tool for the integration and experiential industries – for fun and practical applications – but what’s difficult to predict is just how important it will be a year from now. Zuckerberg certainly wouldn’t have splashed that much money if he wasn’t convinced OR would be more than a platform for gamers.

By Bigger Boat Chief of Police Rob Lane. This is an abridged version of an article for Installation magazine

HOLO-GAUZE WOWS WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL

rob June 24, 2015

Renowned 3D holographic effects solution Holo-Gauze was recently used as part of the key performance presentation on the opening day of the eighth annual World Science Festival in New York. Light Falls: Space, Time & An Obsession of Einstein extensively featured Holo-Gauze to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s discovery of the general theory of relativity. World Science Festival took place May 27th–31st at venues throughout New York City.

Designed by 59 Productions, Light Falls combined Holo-Gauze holographic effects state-of-the-art animation and dramatic portrayals to trace Einstein’s electrifying journey to the conception of his theory. World Science Festival founder Dr Brian Greene and an ensemble cast saw their dramatic performances enhanced by Holo-Gauze.

“It was an honour to be able to contribute to the eighth World Science Festival,” Holo-Gauze founder and Holotronica MD Stuart Warren-Hill told us. “Holo-Gauze is the perfect solution for live events, allowing participants to make presentations behind our near-invisible gauze while informative and entertaining holographic effects appear to float in front and around them. Indeed, Holo-Gauze is so tricky to see that the participants themselves have been known to accidentally walk through it during rehearsals!”

Launched to market last September, and PR-ed by Bigger Boat, Holo-Gauze immediately received global praise for enabling the creation of the world’s biggest, brightest, highest-resolution indoor hologram effect during superstar DJ Eric Prydz’s EPIC 3.0 show at Madison Square Garden. The performance utilised a 20x 5metre Holo-Gauze screen displaying huge hologram effects, including a giant helix, huge speaking head, and numerous rotating particle effects. It has since featured as part of the new Lord of the Dance tour and has appeared on both Channel 4’s Gadget Man and Channel 5’s Gadget Show.