SINGAPORE – In 2019, Hexogon Solution chose Lightact as the media server for Interactive Games – an interactive projection in Funan, an iconic IT shopping mall in Singapore.
More details from Lightact (www.lightact-systems.com):
More details from Hexogon *(www.hexogonsol.com/hexogonsg/):
Interactive Games is an 11 by 12 m large interactive projection area on the floor of Funan shopping mall. It features several interactive games and interactive visual effects based on the corporate identity of the mall. Visitors can play games and interact with visual effects simply by moving around the projection area.
The system uses one Lightact Pro XL server and one Lightact StereoView stereo camera to track people in the projection area. All of the content is generated in real-time with Unreal Engine game running on the same server.
Unreal Engine content is passed to Lightact which splits, warps and blends it and outputs it to 4 Christie Crimson projectors. The commissioning lasted for 6 days during which Gerard Henson, System Manager at Hexogon, was pleasantly surprised at the reliability of Lightact: “Lightact is an incredibly stable software. After several days of heavy use, we haven’t experienced a single crash or system error. I was also pleasantly surprised by the reliability of tracking provided by StereoView camera.”
StereoView is a new product introduced in early 2019 which enables you to get reliable depth information in dynamic lighting and long ranges. David Žalik, technical director at Lightact who took care of the StereoView programming in Lightact said: “With the introduction of StereoView into our product porolio we can track objects in dynamic projected lighting and with an almost infinite range. That’s a game-changer for us.”
Every frame, Lightact finds locations of every person in StereoView’s depth feed and passes it on to Unreal Engine. Vladyslav Fomenko, an Unreal Engine programmer who created the game for this project, was amazed by the freedom Unreal Engine & Lightact combination gives to any UE4 programmer: “What Lightact brings to Unreal Engine is an ability to extend UE4 environment into the real world. The biggest upside is that you can just program your game in UE4 as you would otherwise, knowing that Lightact will take care of projection mapping and all the inputs & outputs with 3rd party devices”.
To give the Client an intuitive user interface to control the installation, the project team created a WebUI with a few simple buttons and sliders. The client can access this WebUI with a browser on any device on the network.
Additionally, to eliminate the need for user interaction after a power outage, the team set up Lightact Manager. It makes sure the installation runs as it should at all times by automatically starting up the projection whenever the server boots up. For an extra level of reliability it also restarts the system once per day.
To give Hexogon an additional feeling of safety & security, the team created an account on Lightact Cloud where they can monitor the installation over the internet or receive an e-mail notification in case something is amiss.
Adrian Goh, Group Manager of Hexogon said after the completion of the project: “We are very happy with Lightact system. Due to its versatility, reliability and excellent support, it became our go-to solution for all multi-media interactive installations.”
Credits
System Integrator: Hexogon Solution
Media Server: Lightact
Media Server Programming: VISIBLE
Links
Lightact: www.lightact-systems.com
Hexogon Solution www.hexogonsol.com/hexogonsg/
Funan Shopping Mall www.capitaland.com/sg/malls/funan/en.html
Unreal Engine www.unrealengine.com
Project Video www.youtu.be/0jwBUd2azNM
Lightact Pro XL www.lightact-systems.com/pro-xl/
Lightact StereoView www.lightact-systems.com/stereoview/
