A 4K CarbonLight VX LED screen from Leyard Europe forms the heart of a new inspirational and educational exhibition at the headquarters of the European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL), Europe’s flagship laboratory for research into life sciences, which explains and celebrates its work to better understand the building blocks of all life on Earth.
The World of Molecular Biology exhibition occupies 800 sqm of the double-height atrium of the EMBL headquarters in Heidelberg Germany and tells the story of life through 45 AV exhibits comprising a mix of audiovisual, virtual reality, interactive and tactile elements, grouped into three zones, themed The Spirit of EMBL, Life is Amazing and Seeing is Understanding.
The star of the exhibition, called the Wall of Wonder, is the 1.9 mm pixel pitch, 8m by 4m Leyard CarbonLight VX 1.9mm 4K LED screen, with content via a 7thSense media server and PIXIELAB Blocks for show control. The display was designed and installed by DJ Willrich (DJW), the AV systems integrator responsible for AV technology within the exhibition, which was designed by Haley Sharpe Design.
The screen displays images captured by electron microscopes housed in an adjacent room, scaling up micro-organisms far too tiny to be seen with the human eye into stunning, detailed images.
The exhibition’s aim is to provide education into EMBL’s research at a level that can be readily interpreted, without needing explanation from biologists and physicists. It is designed as an entry level facility for schools, providing a bridge into what EMBL is about and what it does.
“The Leyard screen brings microscopic images into the visible world – and how!” explains David Willrich, Owner and Managing Director of DJW, which provided consultancy in the design stages before winning the tender to design and install the AV. “Seeing a cell less than 20 microns blown up to 8m wide is an amazing experience, one which has even the EMBL staff blown away – they were stopping to watch the cycle of images during commissioning.
“LED is the perfect display technology for the high ambient light in the atrium, and Leyard CarbonLight’s fine pixel pitch, wide colour range, and high and fast frame rates provides excellent visual performance, ensuring even the finest detail of the images is perfectly reproduced.”
Additional touch screens and tables, vertical displays and explainer screens enable a deeper dive into specific topics and enhanced explanations as well as opportunities to interact. All the elements combine to engage, inform and inspire visitors to the building, and to foster a better understanding of molecular science and its relevance for individuals and society.
The flexible design of the space also ensures it is multi-use, with meeting rooms around the exhibition able to be closed or opened up to the exhibition space. A connection to the LED screen for a computer and a link to the existing sound systems enables it to be used for lectures and as speaker support.
“Engaging story telling relies on clear communication,” says Leyard Europe’s Luke Marler-Hausen. “DJW have been able to really utilise all the advanced colour features of our Leyard VX range to deliver punchy and vibrant messages that mesmerise audiences, achieving the visual communication brief with style. The DJW approach with bespoke integration and designs, enabled our LED canvas to tell the EMBL story with clarity and precision.”
The use of AV technology, and in particular the Leyard LED screen, in the exhibition echoes EMBL’s core themes of Seeing is Understanding and Life is Amazing. The technology helps tell the story of how life works, what the EMBL does to improve our understanding and why that matters to us all in an engaging and impactful way that EMBL hopes will also inspire the next generation of researchers and life scientists.
