TiME Lab stands for ‘Tomorrows immersive Media Experience’ laboratory and is an impressive installation of outstanding audio-visual principles and innovations: Images are reproduced on a panoramic 3.35m x 12m sized screen that takes in the whole of the viewer’s field of vision. Up to 14 HD projectors are used to render 7k resolution (7,000 x 2,000 pixels per 2D or 3D video frame) and deliver a 180° 3D panoramic projection. Sound is reproduced by a 120-channel sound system based on the principles of wavefield synthesis.
TiME Lab was initiated and installed at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin as a showcase for multiple research efforts. All principles, like multi-projector screening, multi-camera visual capturing (OmniCam), to name only a few, were invented and developed in-house. Regarding sound, Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (IDMT), Ilmenau was responsible and contributed its unique technology for wavefield synthesis reproduction, installed by its spin-off IOSONO, Erfurt.
All components of the audio reproduction system are the work of my collaboration with Scheck Audio and IOSONO. The underlying audio distribution principles (the twinLANe audio network) and the network control unit (NCU) at the heart of the audio reproduction system are from my desk. It is very inspiring to see this small contribution as a part of an impressive and technology-leading project like the TiME Lab in Berlin.
Here are links to further information:
- A video about TiME Lab
- World premiere of the mobile version of TiME Lab: Recording the performance of ‘Carmen’, a joint project between Sasha Waltz and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, a technical description starts @0:55
- A promotional video about the project ‘Carmen’
- Fraunhofer HHI and Fraunhofer IDMT
- 3D Innovation Center
- DLP projectors used in TiME Lab