Smart Monkeys Programs Show Control System for David Niles’s “Liberty 360", World’s First 360 Stereo 3D Show

 

Smart Monkeys was chosen by David Niles — best-known for his pioneering HD production and for creating the award winning Comcast Experience — to build the show control and programming for "Liberty 360", a 360 stereoscopic 3D exhibit produced by Niles Creative Group for the Historic Philadelphia Center.  The 15-minute experience uses storytelling (Ben Franklin appears as the historical escort) and theatrical illusion to portray the evolution of democracy in the United States.  Niles created the original concept for the exhibit as well as the unique theater design for the world’s first 360 stereo 3D projection.

 

"We have worked with David on several projects, and it was a pleasure to do the groundbreaking "Liberty 360" with him," says Smart Monkeys’ Stephan Villet.  "David knows how to explain what he wants and always gives us the right guidance.  The rapport we’ve established with him enables us to work successfully on our own while feeling like part of the Niles Creative Group family."

 

David Niles’ company has a reputation for "projects that have never been done before. We use Smart Monkeys because they are an invaluable member of our team.  We deliver a soup-to-nuts product: content, content delivery systems, display.  And Smart Monkeys is a key element in our comprehensive approach."

"Liberty 360" hosts up to 65 visitors at a time wrapping them in a cylindrical screen delivering a continuous, edge-blended, single image more than 150 feet wide and eight feet high.  Wearing special 3D glasses, the audience perceives an accurate 360 effect that realistically simulates images coming at, around and behind them wherever they stand in the space.

 

"What we built was a system that allows the operator to start the show and run it all day long from a simple push of a touch screen button," says Villet.  Control was required for 7th Sense Delta media servers (four of them 8-channel) that acted as video sources, eight Barco Galaxy NW-12 projectors, house lighting and a photographic capture system whose pictures become part of each show.  The main controller is a Medialon Show Master Pro; a backup system is on hand and ready to go online if needed.