Panasonic technology recreates the history of the Terracotta Warriors at the World Museum in Liverpool

Liverpool's National Museums explain the history of the Terracotta Warriors with the help of Panasonic projectors. Eight PT-RZ970 and five PT-RZ670 devices are used to create an immersive experience.

the National Museums of Liverpool comprise eight venues that collect the most important and varied collections in Europe and attract about three million visitors each year.

The World Museum is the oldest of the National Museums Liverpool, with life science collections and exhibitions, Earth sciences and human cultures around the world, the latter of which presents the exhibition 'The First Emperor of China and the Terracotta Warriors'’ (China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors), which can be visited until 28 October 2018.

For more than 2000 years, an underground army of life-size terracotta warriors secretly guarded the tomb of China's first emperor, Quin Shi Huang, until in a fortuitous discovery in 1974 The mysteries of a vanished empire were revealed.

Exhibition spans nearly a thousand years of Chinese history, from the conflicts and chaos of the Warring States period to the achievements and legacy of the Qin and Han dynasties, and, With the help of projection technology Panasonic, It has been possible to improve the narration of the exhibition, bringing the elements to life.

The Liverpool-based audiovisual equipment rental company, Adlib, has been one of the many technical partners who submitted their proposal to the National Museums Liverpool.

Fiona Philpott, Director of Exhibitions for the National Museums Liverpool, who was part of the committee that approved Adlib's participation in the exhibition, Explain what your challenges were. "One of our biggest concerns was that the technology might fail., since projections are a very important part of the visitor experience. Adlib could control everything remotely, But it was also decisive that they were just minutes away and could come quickly in times of need.".

Adlib worked closely with Draw&Code, who was hired by the National Museums Liverpool to create an immersive experience for the exhibition. Augmented reality projections were used, Animations and visualizations in virtual reality.

"We wanted to do something that would captivate the audience's imagination and leave them in awe.. Working with Adlib and meeting with them to share all these ideas, as well as the creative freedom offered by Panasonic hardware, It allowed us to achieve almost magical effects", says Andy Cooper, creative director of Draw&Code.

Thanks to the help of Panasonic laser projectors, This immersive experience, showing the history of the Terracotta Warriors, is able to capture the attention of visitors. To do this, eight RZ970 and five RZ670 units were installed. Designed for heavy use and long-lasting shine, This equipment is suitable for use in museums and exhibitions.

"With the wide screen behind the warriors, One of the main challenges was that there was no room for a front projection.. And taking into account the displacement, It seemed that there would be no room for a later screening either.", clarifies Andrew Watts, system integrator at Adlib.

To fix the problem, Panasonic mirror lenses were used, managing to reduce the distance needed to make a subsequent projection. Lenses are offset from the screen, so that it can be projected from various angles to fill it.

Instead of arranging this equipment in a typical horizontal position, have been placed in portrait orientation, allowing you to achieve the desired image from a very short distance. The projectors are laser-based and when arranged in portrait orientation the performance is not modified, nor the cost or uptime, as they are designed to operate in any orientation and angle.

Reliability was a key aspect in the screenings at the National Museums Liverpool. One of their big concerns was the access that integrators would need to maintain the projectors.. With integrated systems in and around the elements, and in the case of such a sensitive site, wanted to minimize access to reach them.

“The fact that there are no filters or lamps to replace allows the projectors to be placed and, simply, Leave them there. Another key point to ensure quality, is that they will have the same brightness from the first to the last day of the exhibition”, adds Andrew Watts.

AV installation in five areas

When visitors enter the exhibition, around 40 At the same time, begins its immersive journey in an area dubbed 'Introduction to China' (Introduction to China) and meet a wall of 15 meters wide by three meters high in the shape of a stylized mountain range, Custom built to fit the space. The lights dim and there is a presentation on this screen about this country, while the atmosphere is filled with the aroma of cherry blossoms.

Images are created with two Panasonic PT-RZ970 laser projectors 10.000 Lumens mapped through the wall, and a Watchpax media server 4 of Dataton serves content to these computers. In addition, It is responsible for controlling the amplifiers Crown and the fragrance generator of Osborne Technologies.

The audio installation consists of three AA61 speakers and an Adlib AA12HL subwoofers, that run as a surround sound system 3.1 to provide a rich 3D tone. These installation speakers are compact and very reliable.

When the presentation ends, Dataton's server and IOCore Artnet relay system Visual Productions They are responsible for opening the doors and giving way to a second space: 'Warring States'.

In this area are used two Panasonic PT-RZ970 projectors and two screens of 5.5×2 meters running through the roof space. The contents are driven by a Watchpax 2 and incorporate the same power control system, iPower IP-4, found throughout the exhibition.

The information relates to the atmosphere of confusion and warring states in China before Earth was unified by the first imperial dynasty led by Qin Shi Huang., who became Zheng, king of Qin to the 13 years and then the first emperor of China at 38 years. Here visitors learn the story of his rise to power and influence..

The audioscape is transmitted through the Adlib AA81 speakers built into the display and the use of quadraphonic audio. The sound of arrows being heard at the top, accompanied by drum beats and the sounds of battle, can be directional and achieves a more immersive and realistic environment.

The following area details the Qin Dynasty , with terracotta warriors of this period. A projection screen of 8 has been installed here×3 meters that is fed content through three other Panasonic RZ970s. The images include close-ups of the warriors' faces that have been digitally painted for on-screen presentation in what could have been original colors..

“This area was particularly challenging for us. The idea of having a large rear projection seemed simple, However, Less than two meters of projection distance could be allocated in a space that, At first glance, It shouldn't allow enough distance for it to work.", explains Andrew Watts.

The trio of projectors is mounted vertically, Using adapters Rigtec, modified to attach directly to a vertical truss base. Panasonic's ET-DLE030 lenses were adjusted giving a throw ratio of 0,36:1.

After this, visitors move to the Han Dynasty area, where details of the smaller warriors that were created during this time are shown. Here is an HD screen that uses another Panasonic PT-RZ970 projector and whose contents are provided from the same Watchpax media server that runs the projections in the presentation of the Qin Dynasty.

The fifth area houses the mausoleum of the first emperor, than until today, In real life, has never been opened. This required a completely different treatment that is theatrically driven and, being the final space of the exhibition, It was vital to have a big impact.

The space includes a projection room in which a 'holo-gauze' mesh has been implanted that allows to create a ghost effect in the front.

Five Panasonic PT-RZ670 projectors are used, four to transmit the projections to the ground, The sides and ceiling of the mausoleum for the dramatic show, and one that deals with the mesh. The effects of smoke appear on the front of the gauze, Rivers of mercury project onto the ground, culminating in a booby trap, caused by a bird flying through space.

Fiber backbone

All show programming is linked to a Dataton Watchnet server, which provides control of Watchpax media servers and is the command center for all IP-controlled devices in the system.

Part of the network infrastructure is built around a fiber backbone to accommodate distances between areas.. You have a VPN router, Hardware-based, for access, Network control and diagnostics. A software-based secondary VPN allows redundant network access through a dedicated monitoring server, running a Linux-based Zabbix instance for logging, Network monitoring and diagnostics.

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