The powerwall at Konstanz University

The powerwall was officially put into operation at the Department of Computer and Information Science, Konstanz University, in May 2005.

Developed by the Belgium company, Barco, the powerwall is to date one of the most modern large projection display systems in Europe with a display area of 5.20 m x 2.15 m. The display area is a rear-projection system lit by 8 high-performance projectors, which synchronizes a perfectly adjusted homogenous picture and produces almost nine million pixels - over eight times more than a normal computer monitor.
 
This opens up completely new perspectives in the area of visual data exploration, an area of expertise at the department, which involves the detection of relations in large information spaces. This means, for example, that in the analysis of election results, customer data or stock-exchange prices, no reduction of aggregation of data is required in comparison to previous monitors; data can generally be displayed in its entirety. In addition, there are numerous other areas of application for the powerwall in both research and industry. The wall enables lifelike images of landscapes, buildings, either real or imaginary. As sharp and as large as this was previously impossible. This is interesting for biologists who want to observe life-size body cross sections in detail. The wall is also of interest to car manufacturers who like to inspect new models in their original size.
 
More detail on the history, installation and application of the powerwall is provided below.

History

The way to the powerwall from purchase order to final approval and installation at the University of Konstanz. 

Planning

Planning and realisation of the high-resolution projection system began in August 2004 under the leadership of Mr. Christian Panse.

 

 

Installation

After successful approval in Belgium the powerwall was transported to the University of Konstanz and installed under the highest safety measures in the room especially erected for the purpose.

Technical information

 

Powerwall

The Powerwall consists of a 5,20 x 2,15 meter large back projection screen, which is powered by 8 networked and synchronized projectors. The soft-edge-blending technology and the high resolution of 4640 x 1920 pixels create a large homogeneous projection, which in turn enable visual data analysis up to the smallest details.

Application areas

The powerwall is attractive for a large spectrum of application areas, among them data exploration as carried out in the faculty of computer science and in industrial research collaborations. Further potential application areas are controlling, simulations, marketing analysis, traffic management systems, medicine, bioinformatics, etc.

 

This project brought out the excellent teamwork among all the people involved and was denoted a complete success at the opening ceremony on 11 May 2005. Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhart von Graevenitz noted the positive development of the Department of Information Science and the Assistant Director Dr. Knorr from the Ministry of Science, Research and Art in Baden-Württemberg praised the exemplary development of the area of focus of "Data Exploration and Visualisation" at the University of Konstanz. 

Links

Some useful links related to the powerwall:
Barco (the company, Barco)
Barco V&AR (Barco, area of business: Virtual & Augmented Reality)