Posted on January 18th, 2010 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Technology, more, media, Home Theatre, Markets.
Westminster Academy, London, England.
Martin Lupton and Luke Smith-Wightman of BDP Lighting explain the art of lighting design in school environments. using their work at Westminster Academy as a case study, they emphasise the important role of daylight, the guidelines associated with it and the need to consider electric light as an holistic element of the architecture and overall visual environment.
The current UK government is a significant way along the road of its plans to invest in the order of £2 billion in building and refurbishing schools. This offers the people who are involved in their design a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Schools that are performing poorly or schools that are housed in aged decrepit buildings are being identified and re-built. Many of the UK’s schools buildings are between 50 and 100 years old and it is likely that this wave of new schools will stand for the same amount of time. In 50 years time education may be delivered in a completely different way so this could be the last opportunity many of us have to design the lighting for a school building.
The City Academies programme has seen new schools designed and completed by several prominent architects including Sir Norman Foster and Wilkinson Eyre amongst others. When the Government began this programme it was on the basis that they firmly believed that better designed environments will encourage more positive behaviour and improved academic performance.
As lighting designers, we are part of a growing awareness of the power of light and its role in design and usability of spaces and places. Our craft is widely recognised in environments where the commercial cost of design and high quality luminaires are seen as valuable investments. In retail spaces the link between brand quality and customer spend is well established – lighting can play a key role in supporting the brand image.
In commercial offices the value of lighting to the workforce is starting to be understood but the power of lighting in creating the right impression in the reception is fully accepted. In urban spaces the links between lighting and crime, the perception of safety and the creation of a night-time economy are completely accepted. In fact, lighting designers are employed and allowed to practise their art and science where there is perceived commercial value. But what about spaces where there is social value but limited commercial value?
It could be argued that urban lighting embraces some social elements and has positive benefit on the community it serves. In schools and hospitals, two of the most socially important spaces, the lighting design is, more often than not, left to the electrical engineer or even electrical contractor.
Lighting Design: BDP Architect: AHMMWith daylight as the primary source of light, the artificial light needs to be developed to support this strategy and maximise the benefits. The opportunities to save energy and reduce maintenance must be embraced with automatic control. However, it must not be forgotten that most schools have a single in-house maintenance contractor – the caretaker – and his responsibilities will be both varied and numerous.
Maintenance must be as straight forward as possible. If a school can be designed with a minimum number of lamp types, that respond to daylight and operate only when required, then it will have a long life and be simple to maintain.
Schools are one of the most socially important spaces that we as designers, architects and engineers can be involved in. These are the places where the thoughts and behaviour of our children are developed and moulded. Lighting, both electric and natural, has a significant role to play in the quality of environment in a classroom. High levels of controlled daylight and good vertical illumination are the key design criteria for the creation of a successful classroom. However in the strive for innovation and creative design we must not forget the how these important buildings work, the length of time they are design to stand and the many different users that will inhabit and operate them.
Simplicity and robustness of operation is a fundamental requirement.
In many spaces we have come to realise that horizontal illuminance is a poor measure of design quality, and in schools in particular this is true.
Modern styles of kinaestic teaching rely on visual interaction between the students and teacher and therefore the visual focus is usually on the vertical rather than the horizontal. High levels of concentration are essential from the students and anything that can detract from this must be eliminated. It is essential that all lighting – natural and electric – is controlled and delivered into the space in a comfortable way.
As the physiological and biological effects of daylight become more widely understood and appreciated the reasons and justifications for high levels of daylight in schools can be enforced. Recent research indicates that high levels of daylight are a very positive contributor to academic performance and behaviour of students. Research in the USA, by the Pacific Gas and Energy Company, showed that students in classrooms with the highest daylight factors (in the order of 10%) progressed up to 20% faster on maths test and up to 26% faster on reading tests. The results of similar research in Sweden showed significant correlation between behaviour and daylight. In broad terms this research has also shown that student who attend “day lit” schools outperformed students from “none day lit schools” by 7%-14%.
Posted on January 14th, 2010 by Marcela.
Categories: useful technology, more, Screens, Home Theatre.
Santa Cristina della Fondazza
LED Projects Italy
“This is one of the first examples of monumental ilumination with LED Technology”. Ferruccio Bigi, Bigi + Gregoli.
Santa Cristina della Fondazza is one of the most beautiful churches in the city of Bologna: an 800 year old gem.
Rebuilt in 1602, at the end of its single nave it has a presbytery, thanks to which the architectural structure has wonderful acoustics, and sound is propagated with extraordinary clarity. The church is also used all year as an auditorium and hosts extremely valuable works of art.
During a recent restoration, the interior lighting was also revolutionised, adopting a scheme based almost exclusively on LED fixtures. With this unusual lighting solution for a church, Bigi+Gregoli studio managed to meet different indispensable requirements: highlighting the unique artistic heritage, creating atmospheres suited to the concert performances, accentuating the cultural role of a consecrated building and keeping its sacredness intact.
After careful selection, SGM LED fittings (supplied by Volume srl) were chosen: 24 Palco 5, 1 Ribalta and 38 Genio Mobile, plus 4 Giotto Wash moving head units and a Pilot 3000 console, used to program and control all the lights.
The LED fixtures were used because they are free from ultraviolet rays that could damage the works of art; its colour temperature is adjustable, thanks to the RGB colour mixing system, with which the tones most suited to the atmosphere can be set according to the colour and form of each painting, statue or architectural element.
The fixtures are mounted along the perimeter cornice, at a height of eleven metres, with a low-impact installation involving absolutely no masonry work. Divided into groups, they are concentrated on various sectors of the church, towards which they are aimed (the main altar, the organ, the statues in the niches, the nave environment, etc.) and they create looks studied according to the varying requirements of the auditorium. The system guarantees minimum consumption and running costs compared to those of any other light source.
www.sgm.it www.bigigregoli.com www.dbaudio.com www.sennheiser.com www.sgm.it www.yamahaproaudio.com
Posted on December 22nd, 2009 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Products, versus is vs, Technology, dlp, l c d, lcos, useful technology, more, Screens, 3 d, plasma flat panel, rear projection, control room, education, corporative, events, critical decisions, media, Blogroll, Home Theatre, Hometech Overview, Markets.
) Eyevis - Perfect Visual Solutions
Eyevis is a leading manufacturer of large screen systems for control rooms, monitoring centres, information, communication, simulation and virtual reality. Whether in control rooms in power plants, traffic control centres, video surveillance centres, or in representative installations, everywhere where there is a need for perfect pictures and reliable functionality of the system there is hardly a way around eyevis’ perfect visual solutions.
Thanks to its many years of experience and technological advantages eyevis is the ideal partner for the realisation of complete and customised solutions. eyevis permanently uses latest technology and high-end components for all of its products, in order to fulfil the high requirements of our customers towards their large screen systems. This philosophy guarantees best picture quality and reliable performance of our products. Continuous investments in research and development guarantee a head start of eyevis in the field of large screen visual solutions.
Especially in areas like in control rooms or monitoring centres it is particularly important to have a reliable display solution since there important data information has to be visualised 24 hours per day on seven days a week. Calculable and low lifecycle costs are also an important feature of our systems.
High-end quality “Made in Germany”
Eyevis’ ambitious principle has always been the permanent further development of its product range which aspires to include the most modern technologies in perfect quality.
The result of this “state-of-the-art” philosophy is the permanent development of products which constitute cutting-edge technology in their field of application. This makes eyevis one of very few manufacturers who are able to provide complete systems –
Thanks to its many years of experience and the technological advantage eyevis is the ideal partner for the realisation of complete and customised solutions.
Continuous investments in research and development guarantee a head start in the field of large screen technology.
Best quality is our foremost concern; we want to provide our customers with most modern presentation technology at a high-quality level - this philosophy is embraced by all our staff.
Relying on eyevis, means being sure that all the customer’s requirements in the field of large screen systems can be fulfilled, in order to create a complete, unique and perfect system.
Rely on our well-engineered solutions „Made in Germany“
Direct Informatio www.eyevis.de
More Information: www.adif.es www.indra.es www.autopistas.com www.floria.com www.renovatiofloria.com www.renovatiofloria.es www.abertis.com www.abertislogistica.com
Posted on December 5th, 2009 by Marcela.
Categories: Products, Technology, l c d, more, Screens, education.
I see what you’re saying - NEC’s ‘Tele Scouter’ retinal-display translation glasses
![retinal [640x480]](http://visualtechnology.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/retinal640x480.jpg)
The days of a Universal Translator like the one that made communication between alien species a non-issue in Star Trek might be some way off yet. But a new device from NEC is definitely a step in the right direction for those of us on planet Earth looking for a way to communicate with other language speakers that doesn’t involve a human translator or a well-thumbed phrase book. The prototype device called a “Tele Scouter” is a glasses type display that translates the foreign language being spoken by a partner and projects the translation onto a tiny retinal display.
The device mounted on an eyeglass frame consists of the retinal display, front-mounted camera and microphone, but doesn’t perform the translation itself. Rather the microphone picks up the conversation and transmits it to a portable computer worn on the user’s waist. This computer in turn transmits the information to a remote server, which is responsible for carrying out the heavy processing of converting the speech to text, translating it and sending it back to the wearable parts of the system to be displayed on the retinal display.
This configuration allows for a device that is small and lightweight enough to be worn comfortably, without chewing through battery power. And since the retinal display projects the text into the user’s peripheral vision they are able to maintain eye contact with the person they are talking to. Also, because the wearer doesn’t have to focus their eye on the displayed text, the device can be worn for extended periods without eye strain.
At present the device’s translation abilities aren’t sufficient for real world applications, so NEC plans to initially market the device as a wearable hands-free data display that could be used to show engineers and on- and off-site technicians user guides and manuals while installing or repairing hardware. The system would also allows instructions from a single expert to be delivered to multiple personnel wearing the devices, while recording the repairs is captured by the front-mounted camera.
NEC is aiming to begin shipping the Tele Scouter system in 2010, with a system to suit the needs of 30 users estimated to cost around 750 million yen (approx. US$8.2 million at time of publication). Even at that price NEC is hoping to have sold 1,000 systems in three years.
Via Pink Tentacle, Slash Gear.
Posted on December 2nd, 2009 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Products, Technology, useful technology, more, not 24 hours, corporative.
Solar forest charging station for electric vehicles
Designer neville mars has developed an electric vehicle charging station that takes
the form of an evergreen glade of solar trees. the photovoltaic grove serves a dual function,
acting as a go to source for clean renewable energy while providing a shady spot for cars
to park as they charge.
aspects of urban life are caused by cars, for both driver and the city itself. Large sweltering expanses of tarmac in cities contribute heavily to the urban heat island effect, whilst cars also become unbearably hot in summer sitting in these urban deserts.
Optimizing the heliostatic photovoltaic panels ultimately resulted in their leaflike shape. Although never intentionally conceived to mimic the form of a tree, the panels rotate to follow the path of the sun throughout the day – much like sunflowers – absorbing light whilst also providing optimal shading for cars. Although all parked cars can benefit from shading, electric vehicles can directly charge their batteries by plugging into the ‘solar trees.’
Solar Tree is unique among anti-auto pollution designs in that it empathizes with the anthropomorphized automobile, but particularly with the electric car, providing a place for overworked, spent cars to regain their lost torque, to relax beneath the trees, to gain back their juice in an optimal stress-free environment.
Video of the Solar Tree in motion on Youtube: SOLAR FOREST
Or as embedded movie SMALL or MEDIUM
http://burb.tv/view/Solar_forest
www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-architecture-solar-forest-keeps-your-ev-cool-and-charges-it-as-well/
