DC Tower - Top of Austria שטענדיק מידיאַ ייַנמאָנטירונג

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Photos are captured and collected from the tower's roof every 5 minutes, every one representing the location and the uniqueness of every moment alike. 60 floors below a huge LED wall displays time-sliced photo montages in real time.
The application seamlessly switches between different layouts, one time showing slices of the last 24 hours, another time packing moments from the last 12 weeks into one image.
The dialogue between people within the tower is extended by sensors that enable the application to react to presence and motion of them. This way, the tower itself engages in a vivid dialog with them.

Dimensions & Packaging

10,5 meter by 5 meter LED Wall, 2x Lidar Laser Range Sensor, 6 mega pixel weatherproof webcam on the roof of the tower.

Tags

Responsive Art, Digital Art, Digital Staging, Digital Brand Communication, Media Installation

Production Technology

On the roofs antenna a weatherproof high-resolution webcam was mounted that is connected to a media server in the basement of the tower. This server collects a huge pool of images of weeks and months, that are then delivered to the real time application that feeds the 10,5 by 5 meter LED wall in the middle of the foyer.
Two LiDAR laser range sensors were mounted in two corners of the foyer to provide ideal position tracking of people in the relevant space. The collected tracking data is used by the application to make all time-slice montages actively react to the presence of people in several different ways.

Design Challenge

The uniqueness of the location of the tower needed to be present in the design as well as the uniqueness of the tower itself. Additionally, it was important to emphasize the human aspect of the tower community, the dialog between all people inside the building. The last important aspect was the presence of all special moments, from now till months in the past.
The final appearance of the installation provides familiarity and the feeling of home and on the other hand appears always new and unique. Every five minutes the LED wall shows content in a way that has never been seen before.

Research

The technical research for this project/design was based on the speciality and experience of several team members and covered evaluation and long-time testing of both, the webcam as well as the sensors.
Based on the learnings of the research blended into the final technical concept.

Inspiration

Vienna's DC Tower 1 is Austria's highest building. The business tower provides a work place for many people that enter on the ground floor and never feel the uniqueness of the location.
Tower management wanted to offer an outstanding welcome gesture which fits the brand.
The interactive media installation emphasizes the uniqueness of the tower as well as the power of the moment. Every moment is unique and worth noting. The LED wall in the foyer presents a celebration of both: the location and every moment at it. Additionally it provides dialogue between the people and the building itself through interactivity.

Project Duration

The project launched in August 2020 in Vienna, Austria in the DC Tower 1 and will be a permanent media installation.

Operation Flow

The media installation runs fully self controlled and automated, due to automatic shut-down and start-up routines. The interaction or responsiveness of the installation is provided by both laser range sensors, whose combined tracking data is constantly fed into and processed by the digital installation.

Image Credits

Photo / Video / Sound: Eyup Kus