Milano Salone 2018
Panasonic marked its 100th anniversary by unveiling a multi-sensory Air Inventions installation—centerpiece to its TRANSITIONS by Panasonic Design program at Fuori Salone—at Milano Design Week 2018, winning a Best Technology Award in the process.
TRANSITIONS by Panasonic Design
Building on adaptability refined over a century of transition, Panasonic Design looks ahead to a fast-changing future. The Air Inventions installation celebrates this development as the focal point of TRANSITIONS by Panasonic Design, a representation of Panasonic’s determination to address the challenges ahead.
Panasonic has been creating “things” since its birth in 1918, and this year’s exhibition demonstrates its commitment to creating products and services that address the relationship between design in the physical and practical sense, and the associated intangible feelings and experiences it inspires.
Air Inventions
Shaped like a giant water-droplet and set up in the courtyard of the Pinacoteca di Brera, Air Inventions featured a 20-meter air-dome filled with purified and ionized air courtesy of Panasonic nanoe X technology, and “silky fine mist”, a proprietary water-micronation system that used pressurized air to create a refreshing mist inside the venue. Visitors were able to experience “the clearest and purest air in Milan” according to Mr. Ryota Uchida, designer at Panasonic Corporation’s Appliances Company Design Center. Two PT-RQ32K 3-Chip DLP™ SOLID SHINE Laser projectors beamed images at 27,000 lumens brightness into layers of mist inside the air-dome, ET-D3LEF70 fisheye lenses retaining the projectors’ ultra-high 4K+ resolution. The projector and lens combination illuminated a fantasy world filled with sound, images, and light. Milano Salone officials praised Air Inventions for “the ability of the installation to return an experience of technology as intangible as it is unique and relevant, involving the visitor and proposing a sensory orchestration of great impact.”
- Why We Chose the PT-RQ32K and ET-D3LEF70
- PT-RQ32K has ultra-high brightness 27,000 lm*1 and 4K+ resolution*2
- Dustproof optical unit and highly efficient cooling system
- Easy multi-projector mapping with Geometry Manager Pro Software
- ET-D3LEF70 Fisheye Lens has wide lens-shift (vertical: up to ± 37 %, horizontal: up to ± 17 %)*3 for flexible installation and adjustment
- Lens supports wide 91.6° viewing angle*4 to deliver widest dome coverage
- Lifelike realism and dimensionality without need for glasses
*1 Luminance measured at center of screen in High Mode. Operation in High Mode may reduce maintenance timing in comparison to use in Normal Mode.
*2 Resolution 5120 x 3200 Pixels (Quad Pixel Drive: ON).
*3 WQXGA.
*4 Diagonal when shifting lens to maximum value.
Achieving Full-Dome Coverage at 4K+ Resolution
Bringing the Air Inventions concept alive called for Panasonic’s best technology. Each of our two PT-RQ32K 3-Chip DLP™ SOLID SHINE Laser projectors (brightness at center: 27,000 lm) features a dual-drive laser optical engine that runs consistently bright under 24/7 operation, serving 4K+ images rich in color and high in contrast. Coupled with the new Panasonic ET-D3LEF70 fisheye lenses, which enable wider coverage with fewer projectors, the units clearly resolved images with uniformly high brightness and focus while realizing panoramic full-dome installation even where the focus-balance between the center and corners of the screen was unequal.
To enhance the installation’s sense of dimensionality, and to make it easier for visitors to navigate in the dark, an additional quad-lamp 3-Chip DLP™ PT-DZ21K unit projected down from the top of the dome onto the floor.
Perspectives
Shigeo Usui
Project Leader
Chief of Design Center, Appliances Company, Panasonic Corporation
“To set up a dome and design something invisible like air in a historical environment like the Pinacoteca di Brera was a great challenge.
“Depending on how many people were inside, we changed the mist density to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Ryota Uchida
Designer, Design Center, Appliances Company, Panasonic Corporation
“We combined Panasonic’s unique technologies with various natural elements, like mist, wind, sound, vision, and so on, to appeal to all five senses. First, we used our 4K+ projection and fisheye lens to ‘visualize’ the air with 27,000 lumens brightness and ultra-high resolution and contrast.
“Second, we used silky fine mist, which can produce ultra-fine water particles as the screen for projection of the air.
“This year is the 100th anniversary of Panasonic, and the starting point for the next revolution of the next 100 years. We try to design not only tangible products, but also intangible experiences. Giving new context to technology is a new challenge for designers. It feels like we’re just starting to make the world and life better for the future.”
About Milan Design Week
Milan Design Week is the collective name for the world's biggest furniture showcase and exhibitions concurrently running in April each year. This is the 57th year since Milan Design Week first began, which is significantly influential as the reference point for cutting-edge designs, and in recent years it has been the focal point for brands reaching even beyond the scope of design exhibitions.
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