Held from 15-27 September 2015 at Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the IAA International Motor Show is one of the biggest auto shows in the world, and is known for revealing new and concept cars first.
Georg Rössler, founder and CEO of MATRIXMANAGEMENT GmbH explained, “Our client wanted us to create a dynamic presentation that would work with floor space, lighting, mirrors, elaborate set design and over 33 automobiles. Digital technologies needed to link virtual and physical exhibits and importantly to impress industry peers, visitors, and the Media.
“Replacing a conventional booth, a stand-alone brand space and multimedia experience invited visitors to discover Audi’s four major themes – SPORT, QUATTRO, ULTRA and TECHNOLOGIES - and to reveal the future of the A4 model line and Audi Q7 e tron hybrid.”
Multisensory life in the fast lane
The starting point of Audi’s architectural and multimedia masterpiece was the 100 meter (328.1ft) ‘experience walk’, an entrance corridor encircling the buildings interior. AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Raw was used as playout system including a presentation window using augmented reality to connect digital information about Audi technologies with the physical automobiles on display.
Seventeen AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Raw and three Wings Engine Stage media servers were integrated by MATRIXMANAGEMENT GmbH to power approximately 700 square meters of high-resolution 3.5 mm pitch LED displays. Four screens were positioned in the main presentation area of Audi’s three-story, 70 by 55 meter (229.7 by 280.4ft) temporary building at IAA International Motor Show, Frankfurt, Germany.
The LED screens produced a total of 36,000 horizontal pixels in uncompressed format, something that couldn’t be achieved using conventional compressed video formats. The largest screen used a single-stream of uncompressed video at 12,240 x 1,907 pixels and the smallest screen produced an unprecedented 7,208 x 2,312 pixels. As each screen was unique in shape and size, special customized mechanical substructures were developed, manufactured and integrated by MATRIXMANAGEMENT GmbH.
Sporty, sleek and powerful
A focal point was the new Audi A4, which was centrally positioned on a rotating platform and surrounded by the main LED video screens. Above the main center stage, a giant virtual compass was installed. MATRIXMANAGEMENT GmbH programmed and controlled all movements on stage including the compass and screen content. Additionally, frame accurate control of the system was used on real automobiles that were mounted onto the surface of the LED screens.
As soon as the compass turned into one of the four cardinal directions, the entire media display of the exhibit switched between the four thematic worlds of Audi SPORT, QUATTRO, ULTRA, and TECHNOLOGIES.
Seventeen Wings Engine Raw and three Wings Engine Stage servers were used over a surface of nearly 700 square metres of AOTO 3.5mm and ROE BlackOnyx 3,5 mm LED screens. The front end processing, scaling and switching of content was achieved using eight Barco E2 4K screen management systems configured in single and stacking mode.
All uncompressed animated and computer graphic visualizations and scenic content was created in native 4K TIFF format by long-term partners of AUDI AG. Wings Engine Raw provided multiple playback of .tiff picture sequences in addition with the playback of .png sequences from one single Server."
The project was six months in the planning, eight weeks in construction, programming and testing, thirteen show days and took 72 hours to remove after the event concluded. Audi won ‘Best Booth’ at The IAA International Motor Show.