Inside the suggestive and imposing Castle of Gallipoli (Lecce), the exhibition “Gallipoli Castle, a Sea of Stories” was held, a real experiential journey through the centuries to get to know the city and its fortress from an unprecedented point of view. Heart of the exhibition, a 360° mapping made with Epson EB-L1755U laser projectors supplied by Prase Media Technologies.
A Full Dome projection to immerse yourself in the history of Gallipoli: this is the idea behind the multimedia set-up created by Provinciali Service, in synergy with the production of Orione and the artistic care of Creation. Hosting this colossal and fascinating projection, made even more exciting by the musical accompaniment, is the ennagonal room, an environment characterized by several critical issues: first of all, the high humidity due to the proximity to the sea, therefore the limited electricity supply but, above all, the highly irregular surface and the architectural limits that dictated the positioning of the technological component.
The mapping of the vault was carried out by placing five Epson EB-L1755U projectors with ELPLW06 optics along the perimeter and the EB-L1715S model with optional ELPLW05 optics at the top. Each element made it possible to map a projection between 100 and 110 square meters, with a brightness of about 105 lux/45 cd/m2 for the side ones and 175 lux for the one in the center of the vault. Thanks to this Full Dome projection, in the Ennagonale Room of the Gallipoli Castle, historical images and documentation coexist with a highly technological language, optimized to respond to the obstacles imposed by the irregular surface of the dome, consisting of seven inclined planes converging towards the center and studded with damage on the walls and white concretions of salt, which reflect the light. All these problems, according to the words of Umberto Pastore, CEO of Creation who oversaw the videomapping project, instead of being obstacles, have indeed sharpened the inventiveness of the technicians, and “have led, both in the creative phase and in progress , the exasperation of the storyboard and of the 3D graphics components towards an evocative rather than narrative register and towards dark shades, saturated with coloring.”
The projection, according to the artistic curator Raffaella Zizzari, “takes on a theatrical dimension, making the material surface of the room and its extreme irregularity a factor that enhances the history of the building, the extreme culmination of the exhibition.”It goes without saying that for such an ambitious set-up, the choice of projector and optics is a crucial factor. Annamaria Provinciali, Co-founder of the company of the same name, commented: “The choice of the Epson EB-L1755U model was not accidental. We had already had the opportunity and opportunity to test its quality and reliability from every point of view and in the most unthinkable situations.”
“The high contrast and the detail of the image” – concludes Pierluigi Provinciali – “have created the magic that amazed hundreds of visitors. The set of optics, silent operation and low consumption have confirmed Epson video projectors as the winning choice also from a technical point of view.”
For the positioning of the projectors, special boxes were chosen which facilitated installation, thanks to the high excursion of the optics with respect to the surface of the support. Finally, the edge blending and calibration of individual images was facilitated by Epson software, and the projectors were configured on a single network to ensure monitoring and management of the installation even remotely.
