Passengers using the moving walkway in Terminal A at Brussels airport, the underground network that seems endless, need distractions and they are the perfect audience.
As you approach, a hidden camera (behind the screen featuring the Deloitte name and logo) is activated. In front of your eyes, as if a special show just for your passing, the on-screen image shatters into 30,000 tiny pieces, releasing atmospheric sound from overhead speakers.
It’s a stunning acoustic accompaniment of orchestral proportions, all synchronised to a vivid cinematic display. And it’s all for you… (Unless of course there are 200 other passengers on the moving walkways but still, it’s a cool trick and catches you out.)
This is the first interactive screen installation to appear at Brussels airport, commissioned by Deloitte not only as brand-building but also to emphasize their depth of IT capability.
Belgian 3D gesture technology specialist Brandfirst designed and implemented the spectacle, with its technical partner Olileo providing business-focused information, communication and technology services.
With wall space for 15 screens, Deloitte wanted to achieve the highest possible resolution for the installation. “We developed the application in Unity Pro, the game development tool,” Brandfirst MD Philippe Delhez told press, “and as a recognised AMD technical partner we had access to AMD drivers and special command line tools. Working with us, Olileo built a system running 64 bit Windows 7 and added extra scripts and software.”
Deloitte specified 1366x768 native resolution NEC X462UN HD screens. “To achieve the desired resolution and 60fps refresh, the only option was to use AMD FirePro professional graphics with AMD Eyefinity multi-display capabilities,” comments Olileo’s Solution Architect Fabian Geurts.”With five screens connected to each AMD FirePro W600 graphics card, we achieved 15.7 million pixels overall resolution. And in addition to fantastic visuals, this card delivers impressive directional audio. Notably, the project only utilised two ports on the AMD FirePro W600, which is just a small part of its new capability.”
With the airport terminal installation continuously running unattended and non-stop from 5am to 11pm every day of the week, reliability was critical. “It took us a long time to get to the perfect combination that would run flawlessly,” says Geurts. “We custom-built a high end PC with components a good match for the AMD FirePro card. Importantly, the AMD FirePro W600 only consumes 75W, so a huge power supply to the PC is not necessary. Moreover, there is less heat generated to dissipate which particularly suited this installation as the PC had to fit into a confined space yet remain cool.”
