PIXERA Makes Huge Splash at Hong Kong’s First Mega Indoor Wave Pool

The Hidden Cove at Water World Ocean Park plays host to the region’s first ever indoor wave pool, where visitors can dip in the shallow waves or try their hand at surfing.

© Jason Yeung, Cosmovision Co., Ltd

© Jason Yeung, Cosmovision Co., Ltd

© Jason Yeung, Cosmovision Co., Ltd

© Jason Yeung, Cosmovision Co., Ltd

Situated in Wong Chuk Hang, in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island, the all-weather Water World Ocean Park opened its doors to visitors on the 21st September. The 65,000 sqm site is comprised of five different zones, with 27 indoor and outdoor attractions for guests of all ages.

Nestled in the hillside, and overlooking the spectacular South China sea, the water park has seen a HK$4 billion (€444 million) makeover, making it the largest park of its kind in South-East Asia, capable of hosting up to 7,000 visitors at a time. This new landmark destination for locals and tourists is set to provide a boost for local employment and will support economic recovery.

Every day the pool displays a variety of wave patterns with waves ranging from 0.3 to 1m high. Overlooking the wave pool is a built-in stage which boasts a20m x 3.8mOptizvision LED screen which at scheduled times, is used to capture guests on a live camera source and deliver the footage across the screen. An interactive ‘kiss camera’ game and branded advertisements are also displayed to guests via AV Stumpfl’s PIXERA two Quad media server.

A PIXERA media server was deployed for this project because it is extremely reliable and designed to be intuitive for the end-user. To deliver live playbacks throughout the day, the PIXERA two Quad was chosen for its 4K playback capabilities which can be displayed at 60fps.

For this revamp project, Water World Ocean Park trusted system integrators Cosmovision.co., Ltd for the entire AV system design and implementation, including the prominent LED screen. Whilst the AV system was relatively simple to install for a company like Cosmovision, flexibility was paramount to ensure perfect integration in a somewhat unique public entertainment venue.

Cosmovision’s technical sales engineer Jason Yeung, commented: “We had the luxury of pre-programming the PIXERA server in our workshop before deploying the unit onsite. With the project configured and setup prior to installation, aligning the pixel to pixel resolution with the LED screen was very straightforward.”

Alongside the PIXERA two media server, the system also includes Calibre HQPro1000 Seamless switcher for live source processing, and NovaStar LED control systems and receiving cards. BirdDog NDI base cameras and controls are also integrated throughout the indoor wave pool for displaying visuals at events and parties.

This project utilised a customised LED solution, as Water World Ocean Park specifically wanted to use black SMD for high contrast and a high brightness of 7000 nits. The reason for this choice, was to ensure a bright and sharp image in the indoor wave pool with lots of natural light coming from the canvas top.

‘With its rapid development and array of exciting features, the PIXERA media server has so much to offer. I hope to see more attractions, museums and entertainment venues deploy PIXERA for unique and creative applications in the future,” added Yeung.

The overall feedback from Ocean Park has been excellent and has continued to be hot topic for Hong Kong residents. Combining state-of-the-art engineering and environmentally friendly design, Water World Ocean Park has become a spectacular landmark destination for locals and tourists to enjoy.

Pictures courtesy of: Jason Yeung, Cosmovision Co., Ltd