[UK]Richard Marples

(Strategic Marketing Director, Barco Entertainment, Venues & Attractions)

1 What are the main drivers for using audio & video equipment in entertainment venues

Consider a theme park, a stadium, a hotel/casino or any other type of venue or visitor attraction.

All Entertainment Venues & Visitor Attractions need to

(1) Attract more visitors

·Competitive Identity: position destination as ‘first in mind

·Away from other forms of entertainment, home and online

·Make customers want to come back

(2) Increase revenue streams

(3) Engage audiences in a memorable experience

(4) Educate and stimulate

·Both visitors and staff

(5) Keep visitors and assets safe 24/7

(6)Enable venue to be multi-usage

(7) Adapt venue to seasonal and trend changes

(8) Minimize installation & operating costs

(9) Make more money!

2 4 main uses for audio & video system in entertainment venues

(1) Entertainment & Experience : Provide customers with an unforgettable Experience, Entertain, Educate and amaze them

(2)Information & Promotion : Keep customers informed of important information to maximise visitor experience and operating revenue

(3) Education & Collaboration : Educate visitors and staff and allow exchange of information and views. Share learning experiences

(4) Security & Monitoring: Protect Venue assets and visiting customers from threats and hazards by collecting, distributing and displaying information in order to make informed decisions.

3 What are the trends in audio & video system for entertainment venues

Visualization at the heart of the experience

·Audiences want to be entertained with an engaging, rich and rewarding experience

·Increased use of interactivity and live content

·Enable story-telling through immersive environments to show content at its best

·Projection mapping to ‘skin a venue to any theme

·Complete control for live or pre-configured shows

(1) Connectivity – everything connected to everything

The IT revolution is now viable for Video, not just the Audio in AV!

· For a few years now weve been enjoying networked Audio and the advantages that it brings

· Installed bandwidth now allows us to bring those benefits to Video as well

· Latest encoders and decoders allow low latency, low compression and high resolution systemsendprint

· Connect unlimited sources over unlimited distances to unlimited outputs

And have complete control over everything

(2) Interactivity – now thats interesting!

Its no longer just a boring screen

· Gesture and movement recognition allows visitors to control what they see; On-the-go consumers use the display and interact with the content in an entertaining and intuitive way

· Connection to social media networks allows visitors to share experiences with their wider network of acquaintances

· Face recognition allows audience measurement for reporting and dynamic content visualization for targeted information towards genders, age groups

· Coupled with the latest advances in Media Servers and the genius of creators making the content, gone are the days of boring repetitive displays

(3) Creativity – the only thing (besides budget) holding you back

An AV installation of today is a system of fully integrated, networked and intelligent components and the only limit to creating safe, crowd pleasing and educational attractions is creativity (and budget)

· Media Servers store your content, react to cues from the audience and control lights, sound, video and anything else

· Display systems can be multi-mega pixel installations that immerse the viewer in a world thought out by the designer

· 3D Sound systems can provide the soundtrack to the visuals to make the experience truly believable

4 So what are the dangers ?

(1) Make sure the system is right for you

A networked solution should be expandable allowing you to start small and build as requirements change

(2) Make sure that the supplier or integrator has the capability to provide such a solution

Look to references and accreditations

(3) Make sure that people are going to be around for support for as long as you need the system

(4) Dont short change the content, its what drives the revenue! Content is king!

Richard Marples：

He is responsible for the strategy in the Entertainment Venues and Visitor Attractions markets, which is part of the Entertainment & Corporate division of Barco.

Richard has broad international experience in sales and marketing.He started his working career with Philips Lighting. In 2005 Richard joined Barco as Regional Sales Manager, Asia Pacific for Barcos Rental & Staging Division. Later in 2012 Richard moved back to Hong Kong and took over Strategic Marketing Venues & Attractions and has been actively working on realizing Barcos ambitions in this market.endprint