|
|
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
|||||
|
TRADE
SHOW & EXHIBIT MANAGER JUNE/JULY 2000 ISSUE The Wizards of oZ By Candice Stewart After being in research and development for two years, Lumin-oZ , creator of the new patent-pending Revolution screens, was ready to make its debut - specifically in the trade show marketplace. However, we were in a unique position: Lumin-oZ was built on its ability to produce outstanding and unparalleled visual displays, and what's more, our product itself was the means to this end. Our product is a visual one - it's meant to be looked at. But we wanted to really show off the screen's capabilities - in a sense, make good on our marketing messages by proving it can be done successfully. The Lumin-oZ Revolution front and rear projection screen is a cutting-edge, patent-pending optical polymer that provides exhibit and special event marketers a creative license they've never before been afforded. Our mission was to show tradeshow and exhibit managers what they could do to design innovative visual displays and environments when all of the traditional rules and obstacles of trade shown design were eliminated. And to prove it with the design and implementation of our own trade show booth. We narrowed our task down to three real challenges that are common to most companies: design, cost and feasibility. Design The design of our tradeshow booth was the easiest and most fun of the three challenges. In fact, it was virtually a no-brainer. Revolution screens are designed to integrate into any conceivable design desired, so we didnāt waste any brainstorm power (or time) trying to tweak our ideas around outdated technologies. The proprietary formula of the Revolution screens allows it to be bent, molded into 3D forms, or cut into any size or shape, all while retaining the sharpest quality picture. While designing the booth, Lumin-oZ CEO Michael Perry insisted that we "turn the guts out on the booth," in the belief that this was the way to differentiate ourselves from the majority of booths at tradeshows. "Most companies go about building a trade show booth the same way you would a house," says Perry, "You're at a tradeshow to sell. When you want to get show attendees into your booth to show them what you are selling, putting up a number of walls with a roof overhead doesn't make sense." So the Lumin-oZ "tree" was born. The Lumin-oZ tree, created from aluminum is sixteen feet tall with a 3 foot version of our logo placed atop of that. Extending from the tree are 4 X 8 foot branches and 4 X 4 foot branches. Each branch of the tree holds a Lumin-oZ Revolution screen. An integral part of developing the screens for the tree was determining shape. We knew that a number of exhibitors were using some form of video display elements, but not really getting a phenomenal response. The reason? There just wasnāt anything impactful about the common displays or square shapes stacked together. Even the new plasma screens - while interactive and quite high-tech - were just a skinnier television. There was no magic or shock value to these displays. We wanted to stop people in the aisle, so we created screens in the shape of clouds, and octagons, ovals and circles . We vacuum formed screens in the shape of human faces and in the shape of our logo. We projected video from small holes in the base of the tree onto the screens, while the tree slowly spun around. The finishing touch: real grass placed along the base of the tree. By designing a fixture (the tree) that is placed smack in the center of our booth and leaving the rest wide open, we created a clean, smooth, inviting display. Cost Tradeshows are expensive. And trying to devise a new way to keep your trade show audience interested can be even more expensive. But, we knew that making our custom Revolution screens the main focal point of our display would significantly reduce the cost of updating our booth. We wouldn't have outrageous printing and artwork fees. We could save money on the cost of projectors. And best of all, we would always have a dynamic and interactive presentation. Like any company that is going to create a video display we knew that we would need to spend money on projectors. However, because we developed Revolution screens to provide unsurpassed brightness and excellent color rendition we could get away with a less powerful projector ö a dramatic reduction in costs. And because the screens are extremely lightweight we could ship and install our booth around the country, and even internationally, for very little cost. Feasibility One of the most difficult parts of designing a tradeshow booth that includes multimedia, or any video content, is dealing with the unknown variables. Convention centers can have very high-ambient or bright lighting, which is detrimental to these types of displays. We had to improve and develop our Revolution screens before we could use them in our booth so we could work within the uncontrolled environments of convention centers. And we did it. Because of Revolution's ability to grab color and image and hold them, images can be viewed perfectly even in high-ambient light. We knew that attendees would stop in the aisles to check out a booth that contained eight video projection screens but not one box-shaped screen, or black cabinet or tent built to control light. Free At Last For decades the image of high-tech has been limited by its own trappings - burdensome boxes, black cabinetry, dark lighting controls, cost-prohibitive projectors, poor viewing angles, heavy displays and delicate screens. So we developed a technology that is free of those trappings. Itās floating, it's clean, it's uncomplicated. We've introduced a new paradigm for visual display - we used wood and real grass sod at the bottom of a tree to propel people out of their idea of high-tech. And we've seen a nostalgic impact: we've created what we all, as children, envisioned television and video would look like in the 21st century. |
||||
|
©2001
Lumin-oZ, All rights reserved. Contact:
info@lumin-oz.com
| |||||