Kausts Mosti museum opts for Christie
Published: MEA
SAUDI ARABIA: Mosti, the Museum of Science and Technology in Islam, at Kaust – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology – has opened with Christie HD projection forming a core part of its interactive A/V systems.
The vision of Mosti originated from King Abdullah’s dream to set up Kaust as a modern ‘House of Wisdom’. His aim was to celebrate the contributions of Muslim scholars to science and technology during the first Golden Age of Islam, from the 7th to 17th century.
Mahmoud Al-Hashem, head of operation and maintenance at the Kaust Museum, was in charge of audio/visual development and set about designing an interactive system and procuring the technology for the Museum and Conference Building. It was Dubai-based MTE Studios that accepted the challenge to come up with the conceptual design, researching the contents and developing the facility within a limited timeframe. Once development was underway, Mr Al-Hashem advised MTE to turn to Jeddah-based Creative Data Systems, with whom he has worked in the past, to mastermind the A/V installation.
‘I wanted to have the A/V supplied locally,’ he said. ‘I knew the potential of CDS and the fact that they would be able to handle it. I discussed the requirement and because they are right up to date with the market, they were able to suggest better solutions.’
CDS project manager, Mazen Kanawati, specified eight Christie DHD700 single chip DLP HD projectors and a DS+750. The DHD700’s project historic content, shot in HD, and help tell the story of cutting-edge science and technology in the ancient world, while interactive media such as touchscreens, moving plasma screens, multi-touch tables, flipbooks, automated scale models, interactive videos and lighting effects all help to tell the story of ancient science in a fully integrated system working under Medialon show controllers and also using Gefen KVM Extenders and 56 rack PCs as sources.
The primary zones consist of two high towers located at the Learning Institutions, Astronomy and Navigation, and Chemistry clusters, where short movies are shown in high-definition, along with a third Object Theatre. Elsewhere, the DS+750 is used creatively, projecting down onto a chemical hemisphere, while various DHD700s fire onto a rear glass screen and deliver a map on one of the walls.
‘Everyone loves the technology. The bulk of our projectors are Christie single chip HD’s and they work fantastically. It’s hard for any projector in this environment because of the natural light and bright LED but it never loses brightness and never fades towards the edges. They are strong and powerful — and on top of that they are reliable.’
Christie EMEA's Dubai-based sales director, Simon Smith, stated: ‘This installation is a ringing endorsement of Creative Data Systems’ capabilities and is the latest chapter in a successful partnership between our two companies, which stretches back nearly a decade.’ Mr Al-Hashem is also happy with how the project went. ‘Everyone who enters the museum is hit by the wow factor,’ he said. ‘We have only been open two months and already received a lot of tours and hosted visits by ambassadors, ministers and dignitaries.’