Vista Systems' Spyders Spin Promotional Content In Innovative Video Pods For Fontainebleau Hotel In Las Vegas

VistaThere are Vista Spyders in the Fontainebleau Hotel (Las Vegas) and they are spinning tantalizing webs for those considering an investment in the luxury condo residences offered by the destination casino resort set to open this fall.

A pair of Vista Systems Spyders is processing promotional content for a trio of innovative video pods, which are part of a unique sales experience at the Fontainebleau Sales Center.

The Fontainebleau Las Vegas builds on the heritage of the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, which recently underwent a multimillion-dollar restoration. Currently under construction, the Las Vegas casino resort will feature 3,800 guest flats and suites in a 63-storey tower surrounded by restaurants, upscale retail shops, spas and a host of luxury amenities and recreational facilities.

"Branding firm The Arnel Group came up with the idea of setting up a series of video pods to promote the condos," says Paul Bell, vice-president at Miami's Audio Reinforcement Technology (A.R.T., Inc); the sound, lighting and video contractor for the project. "They hired Jim O'Connell of O'Connell & Goldberg Public Relations to help accomplish Arnel's vision."

O'Connell & Goldberg's Dreamwalk Creations division is celebrated for its multimedia real estate "ride" experiences. The attractions feature a full-scale model apartment set-up within a cyclorama, where a virtual guide takes prospective buyers on an amazing tour replete with visual effects. While the Fontainebleau Las Vegas experience is different, it parlays O'Connell & Goldberg's expertise at creating innovative ways to deliver a real-estate developers' message.

Prospective buyers entering the Las Vegas Fontainebleau Sales Center are welcomed by three video pods in the form of partially open plexiglass cylinders washed with abstract colored lights. Each pod features video screens displaying luxury lifestyle videos, complete with text and graphics.

"With the limited amount of space available we didn't have room behind the screens for large projectors," notes Bell. "So we decided to use edge blending and short-throw projectors. Once you walk inside a plexiglass pod there's a 150-degree curved screen."

Bell continues, "Essentially, when you're on axis and project onto a curved screen, you have a nice square pixel. As the screen curves away, your pixel projects on the screen at an angle and it gets elongated. Multiple projectors allow you to reduce that and the Vista Spyder allowed us to use multiple projectors."

In addition, "in some cases we only have seven feet of throw and need video that's 7x15-feet wide. We wouldn't have been able to achieve these short throws without the Vista Spyder."

Bell deployed the Vista Spyder 213 and the Vista Spyder 234 to provide the solution. One Vista Spyder runs one video pod and the second system runs the two remaining pods. The Vista Spyder is a windowing processor that takes virtually any content from a variety of graphics and video sources and outputs this content in real-time across a multi-image display. Vista Systems' switchers have become the industry standard for live multiple-destination video and data mixed signal switching.

Bell has been a fan of the Vista Spyder since he configured them in a sophisticated AV display, which spans the lanes at Pinstrikes; the bowling component of the first IPic Entertainment complex at Milwaukee's Bayshore Mall. "I love the Vista Systems Spyder," Bell says. "It's straight forward and not complicated at all."

The Vista Spyder certainly plays its part at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, echoing the words of famed Fontainebleau Miami architect Morris Lapidus who said, "If you create the stage set and it is grand, everyone who enters will play their part."

About Vista Systems

Vista Systems was acquired by Christie, a global leader in visual solutions for business, entertainment and industry, to create a comprehensive source for image processing and projection solutions. The acquisition combines the power and flexibility of Vista's video switchers and real-time windowing and composition products with the power, performance and reliability of award-winning Christie projection systems. Vista Systems' switchers have become the industry standard for live multiple-destination video and data mixed signal switching. For more information on Vista Systems, visit their website at www.vistasystems.net.