Project:
Autostadt

Nature of Facilities:
Visitors Center

Client:
Volkswagen

Date of completion:
June 2000

Scope of Work:
Interactive system design and programming for two motion simulation theaters, a museum exhibit, multiple interactive exhibits, a large-format 8/70 theater, three video theaters, and a 360° high-definition 3d pojection theater-in-the-round.

Challenges/Solutions:
Volkswagen Autostadt is a massive theme-park-like visitors center co-located with the car maker's headquarters and factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. The shear size of the facility and its visitor center attractions created what seemed like a never-ending volume of show control programming for ETI technicians. But ETI's biggest obstacle was designing and programming the 3d projection theatre system for Autostadt's 360° high-definition theater -- the only one of its kind in the world. The challenge was synchronizing nine images to fit together seamlessly on screen. After converting the film to digital video, the real work began. ETI assembled and supervised a team of post-production technicians to work around the clock, reviewing each frame of footage to ensure proper alignment with adjacent images. In some cases, this meant digitally manipulating images to produce the best fit between screens. Perfect image synchronization was ultimately achieved, and Volkswagen's new theater continues to thrill audiences with an extraordinary immersive experience.