Protec does the robot
Published: MEA
UAE: Production Technology LLC (Protec) has been on the receiving end of the award for Best use of Event Technology at the Middle East Event Awards (MEEA) for its Jimi Hendrix portrait sketching industrial robot.
‘This award category was only introduced this year and is a very special one for us,’ enthused Protec founder, Steve Lakin. ‘The award is unique; making robots inhabit any presentation is a challenging task yet what we’ve done here is but one small example. The potential is only limited by your imagination and I’m proud to say the people and skills within Protec are up to whatever you throw at us.’
MEEA organiser, Informa Exhibitions not only selected Protec as the winner of that particular category, but also engaged the technical and staging solutions company to help stage the event at the Joharah Ballroom in Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah resort. ‘With a new venue to contend with, Protec were tasked with delivering a full spectrum show, integrating the latest technological advancements within sound, lights and onscreen content,’ explained Informa’s project manager for MEEA, Lauren McDermott. ‘Not only did they deliver one of the most visually astounding shows we have ever seen, it was done seamlessly and without fault. Working with Protec over the past eight months toward creating the largest, and most technically ambitious, edition of the Middle East Event Awards of the last nine years has been a real pleasure.’
Protec made use of every advantage that the Joharah venue presented, including all 52 rigging points. Meanwhile, 20 Barco 20k projectors were concealed in the ceiling void, with seamless video ensured as the screens tracked horizontally across the presentation area via use of a d3 Technologies 4x4 Pro media server with a BlackTrax system deployed as a backup.
To maintain continuous visibility as the screens tracked open to reveal the MEEA logo during the opening sequence, a mapped projection surface was initially utilised, giving way to internally lit Schnick-Schnack-Systems video slips so as not to have presenters and award winners casting shadows on the screen during the ceremony. Lighting also played a key role in adding effect to the opening and providing a visual impact during the event, with a couple of Holo-Gauze screens at either side of the central projections.
‘Motion controlled video projection, almost 200 moving lights, and a distributed PA system, rigged across a busy ballroom with just 6m of headroom: all these various technologies have to perform at 110 per cent,’ said Protec’s production manager for the event, Eddie Andradé. ‘Putting on a show like this has its own special pressures. This is an event in front of an audience composed entirely of our peers, industry professionals from across the world and so you’d better make sure it’s perfect.’
In response to the peer-pressure felt by Protec, the feedback from those in attendance was positive. ‘All credit to Protec for taking the bull by the horns,’ stated Darren Hodge, director at Snap LLC. ‘When you’re working to budget with a restricted venue space and you’ve got over 1,000 of the most celebrated event professionals in the industry there to watch you, I think that what Protec delivered was excellent.’ Darrel Jamieson, executive director for creative and fesign at HQCreative added, ‘Protec did an amazing job. On what we’ve seen this year I believe the awards show itself should be entered as an award nominee next year.’
‘The team spent countless hours onsite working towards delivering the event and were willing to go to any level to make sure we were happy and comfortable with all branding and content,’ noted Ms McDermott, adding that ‘as part of an international partnership, Protec worked with UK based Drive Productions to create truly unique content that elevated the whole experience.’
On the partnership with UK-based Drive Productions Mr Andradé commented that ‘such 3D illusions demand crafted lighting and clever projection to achieve maximum impact. A black-box enclosure is the simple part; the way you light it has a profound impact on how it is perceived by the viewing audience. Drive did such a fantastic job we had to rise to the occasion.’
The MEEA ceremony took place during the second day of the Middle East Event Show, which was hosted 20 minutes away at the Marriot Marquis, Dubai. At the expo Protec opted to showcase its roster of technology in a boardroom setting, as well as in a ‘creative playground’.
‘We designed a studio around a boardroom type environment, installed a large video display, and equipped it with some of the creative tools we possess, 3D stage design, lighting design, video and sound,’ explained Mr Andradé. ‘Assembled together in one place, these tools allowed the possibility of a virtual walkthrough experience.
‘Last year a bar was created in the reception area for the “UAE AI & Robotics Award for Good” event,' Mr Andradé continued. ‘We were then asked to place two of our large industrial robots in it and programme them as baristas, serving a variety of coffee and drinks to the expo visitors. This year we did the same, but with a twist.’
‘The ballroom expo space at the Marquis is on the sixth floor, so getting gear up there in a 2 sq-m elevator excluded the robots we used last year; they weigh over a ton each, which is why they appeared in the reception lobby,’ furthered Protec director of operations, James Lakin. ‘Now we have some much smaller, elevator friendly Kuka robots: each weighs just 250kg. The idea was to encourage people to think about their own ideas. For example, some visitors were interested in using the robots concealed, to move stage set pieces.’