January 22, 2010
The Lelawi Theater at the National Museum for the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C., has reopened following the upgrade of the full-dome display system by Global Immersion. The November 2009 renovation included integration of a new four-channel digital projection and server solution, which produces sharper, brighter and more dazzling imagery.
The Lelawi (from the Lenape word meaning "in the middle") Theater is one of the feature attractions at the NMAI, one of the many national museums managed by the Smithsonian Institution and a facility dedicated to the life, language, literature and arts of Native American people. Since opening in 2004, the 120-seat circular theater has immersed visitors in an exclusive 13-minute presentation titled "Who We Are." This production was designed to portray the vibrance and diversity of contemporary native life, exploring the organic bond between communities and their land, religion, traditional knowledge, government and expression.
The 12-meter-diameter theater re-creates the traditional campfire scene, featuring a concentric design with tiered bench seating located around three display systems. The digital full-dome configuration allows the audience to view the "sky" above, while a central "campfire" is simulated using a video projector positioned below the floor onto a screen representing the flaming fire around which Native Americans would tell stories. This digital 'fire pit' is surrounded by four smaller screens in the center of the theater which display accompanying show content. High visitor numbers, increasing maintenance costs and scheduled continuation of the "Who We Are" show program until 2014 identified the need for a technology refresh.
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Global Immersion upgraded the seven existing projectors with a four-channel Fidelity Bright DLP system—substantially increasing brightness and quality of the display, yet significantly reducing the ongoing cost of ownership. A playback server was also integrated to feed the correct resolution to the display, and to house the new Remote Diagnostic capability—promising a reliable and serviceable system for the future. Global Immersion also integrated the new electronics to the existing audio and control systems and will continue to service the facility.
Alan Caskey, sales director at Global Immersion, explains that after five years of heavy-duty operation, the display had deteriorated and the aging technology was suffering increasing maintenance costs. "The upgraded system design reduced the number of integrated hardware components and has provided a significantly more robust and cost-effective experience."
The original digital theater system was designed and developed by the Global Immersion team when the company was a division of SEOS (now Rockwell Collins).
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