Brooklyn’s Unlimited AI leverages Hippotizer to immerse visitors in an expansive video installation
UNITED STATES – An army of Hippotizer media servers landed in Brooklyn to feed vast amounts of visual data to 63 HD projectors inside ArtsDistrict Brooklyn’s immersive Unlimited AI experience, filling the main gallery space with 10,000 square feet with 360 degree video.
Created by internationally acclaimed artists Ferdi and Eylul Alici of Istanbul-based studio Ouchhh, Limitless AI transports audiences to a world of culture, science and nature. Artificial intelligence is reinventing terabytes of data, taking billions of brush strokes from historical masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, teachings of physics from greats like Stephen Hawking and brainwave responses from musicians while they play, among many other amazing things. The five-part, 60-minute experience is presented in five distinct chapters and includes a finale with live music and an opportunity to influence the video through interaction.
At the heart of real-time video data manipulation are seven Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 media servers, controlled by a grandMA3 console. “We have presets in Hippo for each chapter of the show and the TD computers generate live data which is transmitted via NDI to the Hippo servers,” explains Sofia Claudino, video manager for Limitless AI. “Everything is controlled by our Boreal MK2+ servers and they communicate with the grandMA3 via a multi-controller and a DMX component. Triggering is then done via the console, using a very precise universal clock system which synchronizes both the video and audio systems It’s a very complex system and we’re impressed with the ability to run a timecode-based broadcast that requires invisible callout solutions because a continuous timeline doesn’t match Our needs.
The team explains that given the cavernous size of the space, they needed media server hardware capable of powering projections on multiple surfaces. Inside, there is a rotating stage with a concave and convex projection surface and 14 walls over 14 feet high. “We are actually looking to add more projectors, to increase the 63 already in place,” continues Claudino. “There are so many that we had to use Boreal MK2+ servers to completely cover our main gallery. We use 21 units of DataPath which help control and adjust the output of images, hence the capacity needed to support 4K, a 4TB internal drive which keeps our main show running near capacity, and a 10 Gb Ethernet for super-fast media transfer since we also use an NDI stream from the Touch Designer machines to our Hippotizer servers.
The 4 TB of graphic data is entirely processed, manipulated and transmitted to the projectors by the Boreal MK2+ multimedia servers, the Strata Drive being able to accommodate all the media. “Fast processing speed is really important to us, there is no glitches or stutters for a second and all media plays very smoothly,” adds Claudino.
The Green Hippo support team assisted the Limitless AI visual team in creating, building, and operating the ambitious show. “Hippo’s technical support team has been very generous,” continues Claudino. “They have always managed to help me find the best solutions.”
ArtsDistrict Head of Business Development, Jacob Feldman, comments, “We chose Boreal+ MK2 servers because the show was designed to be live from the start, changing each night depending on the music and performers. The final chapter feeds live data from the EEG monitors on the musicians into TouchDesigner and then via NDI to the Hippos. The music that is performed can and does change with each show, which in turn requires additional triggering/calling capabilities from a backstage perspective.
“We still realize the potential of Hippotizer since we are not only able to schedule a main show based on timecode, but we are also interested in exploring other capabilities of Hippotizer, such as scheduling different calendars for other small and large scale events here at ArtsDistrict,” adds Claudino. “These features, meeting the needs of our diverse events, simply cannot be found in other media servers.”
After a soft launch this summer, Limitless AI is set to open to the public in December.
www.green-hippo.com
November 29, 2022
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