History
The KU Medical Center at the University of Kansas was founded in 1906. The non-profit institution is a top-level research and education facility that also provides medical care for patients. Since establishing itself over 100 years ago, KU Med has greatly expanded in size and influence. Recently, KU Med was ranked in the 90th percentile for of hospitals and was recognized by U.S. News and World Reports as having one of the top 50 Ear, Nose and Throat, Heart and Kidney Centers.
Challenge
Early in a construction project to build a new room above the KU Medical Center gift shop, AVI Systems was approached regarding ideas on how to bring a state-of-the-art high-tech meeting place for top level KU executives and doctors. KU wanted a facility that provided a high level of communications capability mirroring their tradition of excellence and pride in their institution.
KU Med sought flexibility, intuitiveness and technology that worked within the size of the room and the limitations of a 9 foot ceiling. KU Med wanted many of the features in a modern conference room including a high-resolution LED Cubed Wall Display, dual conferencing cameras, top-level audio processing and multiple easy-to-use system control touch screens. The screen required multiple cubes to address the need for a multitude of simultaneous source displays such as side-by-side display of videoconferencing meetings in their native aspect ratio.
A major challenge of the project was KU’s desire to accommodate a kitchen area behind the display wall. This presented difficulties due to limited clearance needed for cube display technology depth and appropriate space to service the equipment. To resolve this, AVI designed the system using BARCO LED cubes with front access servicing to maximize the space behind the display, thus allowing adequate room for the kitchen.
Solution
AVI Systems provided KU Med with a few select plans on how the project could be approached. After a plan was finalized, KU Med and AVI System developed a fantastic working relationship that thrived on the exchange on the ideas through the course of the project, ensuring the needs of the project were met, kept under budget and on schedule.
Result
What has developed from the vision of KU Med and AVI System was a state-of-the-art conference room. With the focal point of the room being an 8-cube display wall featuring a high resolution display with contiguous image and windowing capability. The completely digital system can be intuitively controlled via lectern control panels in the front and back of the room as well as in-wall panels placed near each door. The system is also adaptable to technology advances, ensuring that the conference room stays future-proofed.
KU Med and AVI Systems were immensely proud of the end result, which featured a high level of customization not seen in most projects. Tom Madsen, Project Developer at AVI Systems, could hardly contain his excitement in describing the work, saying it was the most challenging and enjoyable project they have had the pleasure to develop.
“I don’t use this term loosely,” he said. “But from design to execution, this project was near perfect.”
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