//Disney Epcot Center

//Disney Epcot Center
Date February 2010
Location: Disney Epcot Center, Florida
Clients: Global Imagination, IBM, Disney
Task:
When Disney and IBM approached Pufferfish’s American
distribution partner and education specialist Global
Imagination with their desire to a use large-format
spherical display in their “Smarter Planet” exhibition,
Global Imagination turned to Pufferfish to provide a
solution to complement their two smaller, Magic Planet
displays. They needed to meet strict criteria for both
size and brightness, delivering a maximum impact
display suitable for long-term installation at one of the
World’s premier visitor attractions.
Delivery
Pufferfish specified and deigned a brand new solution,
utilising a Barco FLM R22+ projector to super charge the
PufferSphere XXL model with an extra 2000 Lumens of
light output.
Products: PufferSphere XXL
Content: IBM
Sector: Visitor Attractions
Utilising this 3-chip DLP large venue projector, along with
Pufferfish’s UberUmami lens, facilitated a uniform highbrightness display with bold colours right across the
spherical surface despite the large 3m diameter, 28m2
viewing window.
Integrating the PufferSphere XXL unit upside down
allowed both the continued suspension of disbelief (with
the orb appearing to hang in the air) and the installation
of flat touch-screen terminals arranged in a circus below
the PufferSphere XXL through which visitors could
interact with and explore the themes of the Smarter
Planet exhibit. The PufferSphere XXL’s tour production
heritage made the suspension of the unit quick and
simple and, once hoisted into position, in the equilibrium
of being securely hidden from view and easily accessible
for service at the same time.
The unit’s air inflation system meant that there was no
need to confront the logistical and OpEx difficulties of
using gas inflation, whilst Pufferfish’s pressure control
meant that the inflation fans would cut out, running silent
and idle once the display was inflated to the required
pressure.
Content was designed and produced by IBM, allowing
them to build tailor made spherical content focusing on
the issues and themes most relevant to the exhibition.
Not only was the sphere able to form a digital globe to
help convey the world-wide relevance of the message,
but the use of icons, video, motion and info-graphics
meant that the PufferSphere was able to pull crowds,
draw them in and hold their attention as it delivered key
messages through 360 degrees.
Produced as spherical movies, the content is fed and
controlled via a Coolux Pandoras Box video server,
which facilitates smooth, intuitively controlled video
playback and time-lining.
CREDITS
Disney Imagineering
IBM
Global Imagination
Coolux
www.pufferfishdisplays.co.uk +44 (0) 131 668 3360 [email protected]