QST LED 3mm curved video wall looks stunning at the Grand Opening of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Wiess Energy Hall expansion. The 12.5' x 40' 4K video wall acts as a virtual backdrop "on deck" of an oil drilling platform. This QST video wall is currently the largest known 4K curved 3mm screen in the US.
When the Museum came to our design firm for an idea for the centerpiece of the Wiess Energy Hall expansion, they had an idea of transporting visitors to an offshore oil rig. When visits steps off the elevator and "on deck," they are welcomed by a "holodeck" experience with a panoramic view of the ocean and a backdrop of the horizons that changes according to the time of day.
The project is a part of the what's being called the Wiess Energy Hall 3.0--a 3 year, $40 million upgrade to the facility. It's best the educational facility according to HMNS President Joel Bartsch.
"So we went around the world and looked at all the other energy exhibitions and energy museums of the world," adds Bartsch. "It is literally, by far, the best in the world."
In 1994 the museum hired a former naval officer named Paul Bernhard to design the Wiess Energy Hall, an 8,500-square-foot permanent exhibition featuring cutting-edge touch-screen computer monitors and the “Geovator,” a mock elevator that used pneumatic airbags and computer animation to simulate the effect of descending into the earth.
The energy hall quickly became one of the museum’s most popular attractions, visited by millions of people and countless school groups. In 2005, the hall received a facelift, with updated information and new, flat-screen plasma monitors. Three years ago, at the height of the unconventional oil and gas revolution spurred by new hydrofracking technology, the museum decided that a more radical update was needed, so it launched a $40 million fundraising campaign to build a brand-new permanent exhibition, informally dubbed Wiess Energy Hall 3.0.
Wiess Energy Hall, Houston Museum of Natural Science
Design: PB Exhibits
Integration: Insane Impact
- LED Pixel Pitch: 3mm
- Pixel WxH: 4096x1280
- Processor: Novastar 4K