Digital media specialists ArKaos have supplied two media servers, one 4K Studio server and one Stage server, to the new multi-million-pound Parisian headquarters of eSports organisation, Team Vitality.
Called V.Hive, the space is a 10,700 square foot facility built on three floors, complete with a lively storefront that is open to the public and including a streaming booth, gaming rooms, a content production studio, a cinema, a WebTV studio plus numerous offices.
ArKaos’s Benjamin Bauwens project managed the installation of the servers that are running a series of digital banners, screens and LED lighting elements in the retail area of the V.Hive, which includes a shopping area and a coffee bar plus a training room for players.
V.Hive was designed – by HKS Architects – as a full-scale event space, with the goal of hosting national eSports and other events, masterclasses, conferences, viewing parties, and showcases.
The ground floor areas are also available for team-building and motivational exercises, and as one of the first eSport team physical spaces, it’s expected to energise fans and further raise the already high profile of the Team Vitality brand.
The main screen display shows the games players themselves, together with scoring, commentary and live camera feeds every day – either from matches taking place or practice runs and training.
It is right at the hub of this vibrant environment and everything happening on the ground floor of V.Hive is related to it in some way.
The 4K ArKaos Studio server takes inputs from 4 x HD cameras plus graphic feeds and outputs to five screens including the main one measuring 1152 x 1080 pixels.
There are four other banners – one at 3840 X 216, one at 2112 X 216, another at 2496 X 216 and the fourth at 2304 x 216 – plus full HD fed to a mobile Samsung LED screen and another full HD going to a second Samsung screen which is used for monitoring.
The ArKaos Studio Server is a powerful system designed for professional lighting and visuals designers offering plug-and-play simplicity and blisteringly fast operation, making it perfect for this application.
The ArKaos Stage server is running 9 x KlingForce LED devices running over Kling-Net and feeding a canvas of LED tape strips which are secured around the windows of the shop and also framing certain in-shop displays … in total measuring 3758 X 18 pixels.
Kling-Net is a revolutionary plug-and-play control protocol developed by ArKaos for the easy operation of current and future LED fixtures and lightsources.
ArKaos became involved in this exciting project via Best Audio & Lighting, an installation specialist and sister company of leading technical production / rental company Dushow, both owned by Le Groupe Novelty.
“The requirement was for powerful, straightforward and logical control of content over these various different LED surfaces in this dynamic multi-purpose environment,” explained Benjamin, who worked closely with Sylvain Maillard from Team Vitality and Alain Lheriteau from Best Audio to design, install and commission a custom server system to work for all their video display and decorative LED needs.
The solution also offers a degree of inbuilt futureproofing for the fast-paced world of eSports.
Benjamin states, “We are very proud to be involved in this project. eSports and Team Vitality are right at the cutting edges of contemporary digital communication and technology, so it’s a great showcase for us!”