We are proud to announce that Electrosonic’s digital solution for the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center at Baylor University was awarded ‘Education Project of the Year’ at the prestigious Digital Signage Experience Awards 2024.
The annual DIZZIE Awards celebrate groundbreaking projects from around the world whose digital signage installations challenge existing standards and drive the industry forward.
Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center at Baylor University
The Hurd Welcome Center provides a technology-rich ‘front door’ to Baylor University’s campus and serves as an inspirational community space designed to make a lasting impression on current and prospective students, staff, alumni and visitors.
Inside the Center, four 96-foot-high columns provide a symbolic link to the original University site while welcoming the next generation of ‘Bears’ with immersive, interactive experiential technology. Inside the columns, videos and custom content depict Baylor’s four foundational themes – Reflect, Connect, Aspire and Amplify – and communicate what life at Baylor can offer.
“When you walk into this building, it’s not a traditional visitor center, it’s not a traditional alumni center,” said Jason Cook, Baylor Vice President for Marketing and Communications. “It’s all about experiences and really creating a canvas for people to write their own Baylor story, to create their own narrative to the facility.”
Meeting tough criteria
To win this award, the Hurd Welcome Center had to meet a number of important requirements:
- Meet the expectations of the audience – Today’s Generation Z students live a social, digital life and the solution had to meet or exceed their expectations with a space that is interactive, engaging and inspiring.
- Deliver unique features and benefits – The project had to feature high levels of innovation with a solution that pushed the boundaries of immersive technology, including beam-forming audio, an LED hemisphere and LED ribbons.
- Overcome installation challenges – The project had to demonstrate how technical expertise and collaboration with partners overcame the unique challenge of 360-degree projection surfaces in a towering cylindrical environment and delivered a successful project.
- Make an impact on the client’s business – The project had to deliver benefits that enabled Baylor - one of the country’s leading universities - to welcome new students and attract prospective students for future enrolment.
Innovative features throughout
Electrosonic’s solution created an experiential digital canvas where students discover, envision and share their futures at Baylor. Innovative digital signage, experiential technology and advanced control systems are key to creating the dynamic immersive spaces in the complex environment of a unique towering cylindrical column.
To control the advanced technologies, Electrosonic utilized Smart Monkeys’ advanced virtualized ISAAC platform. This solution provides a consolidated, reliable means of controlling all show-critical systems from a single point.
A team effort
Electrosonic’s experience of creating complex, large-scale experiential digital environments was critical to overcoming the unique technical challenges of this project. Success was due to the collaboration between clients, partners and the talented teams of Electrosonic design consultants, engineers, integrators, project managers and support staff who brought the vision to life.”
“We’re honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Sean McChesney, Electrosonic’s Chief Revenue Officer. “We believe passionately in the power of digital technology to deliver the best possible guest experience. The Hurd Welcome Center reflects how great digital experiences can transform the educational environment."
Designing digital signage solutions and integrating them into extremely compact spaces with restricted access and complex projection and acoustical surfaces posed significant technical and logistical challenges. Electrosonic, in partnership with DetaiLED™, HOLOPLOT, Populous, Pixera, RLMG, Smart Monkeys an Xibitz, collaborated with architects, experience designers, content producers, technology providers and fabrication teams throughout the project taking responsibility for audiovisual design, installation and integration of custom technology and show control systems within the columns.
