KAUST inauguration in Saudi Arabia

On September 23, 2009, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud hosted more than 3,000 guests, including prominent Saudis, foreign leaders, and Nobel laureates at the Inauguration Ceremony of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia.

For the inauguration three monkeys created an interactive exhibition area which featured various interactive applications presenting all aspects of KAUST as well as milestones in the history of Arabic, Islamic and world science. Furthermore three monkeys enriched the inauguration show with interactive real-time content on a 70x15m movable projection screen.

The Exhibition

The center piece installation included an 8m tall LED cylinder with 360 degree animations and four curved, edge blended projection screens displaying a 360 degree animation. With the animations being synchronized to each other a full immersive environment was created. A spherical projection displaying a virtual earth was sitting beneath the LED cylinder. The visitors controlled the information displayed on the earth by four touch screens.




 

In addition four interactive timeline tunnels were created. These “timeline projections” were combined with a laser tracking system, which allowed visitors to trigger animations by walking past them or interact with the content by simply waving their hands in front of it (touch-less interaction).











For more detailed information 23 holographic touch screen displays with a fully animated 3D user interface were installed around the exhibition area. Visitors could browse through almost one thousand pictures and several hundred pages of text in English and Arabic informing about the history of science, KAUST, Saudi Arabia and the launch event itself.


 

 

Professors of KAUST were able to present their faculties at 4 interactive coffee tables with integrated touch screens.

The Inauguration Show

three monkeys provided real-time graphics and animations for the inauguration show to support lectures and speeches. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah himself triggered the grand finale by touching an interactive pylon. This gesture initiated the opening of the 70m wide, shaped projection screens with animations synchronized to the screens’ movement.





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