Kometor Peuerbach

The walk-in sculpture

Kometor Peuerbach

The walk-in sculpture

On April 30, 2010 the walk-in sculpture "Kometor" was ceremoniously opened in Peuerbach (Upper Austria). Inspired by the famous astronomer and mathematician Georg von Peuerbach, an impressive dodecahedron composed of twelve pentagonal faces was created under the leadership of the artist couple Manfred and Billa Hebenstreit within a period of 3 years. Inside this sculpture, 2 adventure worlds – Water World and Dome of Stars - showing projections of works of art by the artist couple invite the visitors in. To put these fascinating and challenging projections into practice the multidisplay version of AV Stumpfl's Wings Platinum 4 was used on the software side. Animated effects, dynamic masks and Wings' independent "codec management" are just a few keywords used in connection with the trend-setting "creativity tool" Wings Platinum 4, which allows breathtaking multi-media presentations to be created in a most intuitive and user-friendly way. In terms of hardware, a media server designed especially for usage with Wings Platinum 4 was used for each of these installations. These high-performance video servers, which are based on "Core-i7" technology, have been designed for panorama projections with up to 4 projectors.  3 projectors are used for each level within the walk-in sculpture. In "Kometor’s" 8-m high Dome of Stars, high-resolution Panasonic projectors are installed, which feature very high operating reliability due to a dual lamp and a liquid cooling system. The range of lenses that can be used with this projector model is very high. In this particular case, 0.8 : 1 lenses were used to ensure high-detail projection of the glass-made images of stars by Manfred Hebenstreit. The projections in the Water World are realized by 3 high-resolution Hitachi projectors.

For architectural reasons, the projection distance in this Adventure World had to be kept very short. In order to meet this challenge, "ultra wide angle lenses" (0.5 - 0.6 : 1) are used to allow projections of the shimmering color hues on inclined walls. As mentioned above, the projected images are paintings by the artist Manfred Hebenstreit, which were captured digitally and subsequently animated. Both in the Water World and in the Dome of Stars these projected works of art have to be masked by Wings Platinum 4 in order to restrict the images to the corresponding projection surfaces. These animations are surrounded by atmospheric sounds and, in the Dome of Stars, impressive light effects are added as well. These effects are also created by AV Stumpfl hardware and software components. To be more specific, this is done by a product from the "Show Control" product range which is connected to the media server via a network and programmed by means of Wings Platinum.

The impressive symbiosis between light and animated works of art is achieved by a DMX Module which controls the LED bars installed at the edges of the projection surfaces. Visitors "taking off" into the Dome of Stars will be led into a huge kaleidoscope whose entire floor and parts of the walls are covered with mirrors. This mix between exceptional architectural features, impressive works of art and modern projection technologies will make a visit to the Kometor an unforgettable experience.

Realized by :  CG-Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH