For many higher education end users, seeing really is believing when it comes to incredible technology. This is certainly the case for Indiana University, home to the Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL).
The AVL was built to host breathtaking visual experiences, especially for those who use it for research, education and community outreach. The lab primarily offers access to systems that specific teams need to compute, design, visualize and model 3D cyber systems.
“Students, faculty, and staff are all supported in their various endeavors when they need to make use of our facilities and expertise in advanced visualization,” says Chris Eller, team lead of Advanced Digital Arts and Media, UITS Advanced Visualization Lab. “We host events and visitors at our various facilities that use Gefen equipment: the IQ-Wall and the Science on a Sphere (SOS) at the Cyberinfrastructure Building on our Bloomington campus.”
Photos: Inside the Advanced Visualization Lab
The IQ-Wall is a 42-million-pixel video wall fabricated out of 24 tiles. The wall utilizes six Gefen 4 x 4 DVI Cat 5 extenders, which enables the cables to run through a 6-inch conduit. The IQ-Wall contains a rack on its other side; the rack has a run-though conduit to the displays. The Gefen 4 x 4 DVI extender shoots four video sources to four remote displays to distances up to 330 feet while maintaining resolutions at 1920 x 1200, 1080p and 2K.
Integrator Takeaways:
1. Working closely with a manufacturer partner can enhance results.
2. Higher ed clients appreciate a combination of creativity and functionality.
3. Video solutions in higher ed need to accommodate various content resolutions.
End User Takeaways:
1. Invest in a solution that can translate across multiple disciplines, and can be used by users in different fields.
2. Find a solution that reduces the appearance of wires. This minimizes technical and physical risks.
3. High-definition content is eye-catching, and can draw in students, faculty and staff to utilize your facility.
Equipment Highlights:
Gefen extenders,
24-tiled display,
Projectors
“Our development and construction of the IQ-Wall was a complex project and we looked for solutions that helped to simplify our design,” Eller says. “The Gefen 4 x 4 DVI extenders allowed us to greatly reduce the clutter and power management in the equipment rack serving the IQ-Wall.”
The SOS features a 360-degree, six-foot spherical display that comes to life from the light of high-definition projectors, which are located 150 feet away. As the display hangs from the Cyberinfrastructure Building’s atrium ceiling within the AVL, the SOS delivers a wide range of content, including oceanography, astronomical, atmospheric and economic data.
The content is delivered to the projectors via four Gefen Extenders for HDMI over Cat 5 with Ethernet and network cabling. Eller says the SOS display owes its beauty and easy maintenance to Gefen.
“This familiarity with Gefen made us confident that their equipment would serve well for the Science on a Sphere installation,” he says, “and we have been very pleased with the performance of the Gefen extenders in both of these high profile facilities.”
