Matt Barton, managing director (left) and Richard Brown technical director
7thSense Design supplies the media servers that power some of the industry’s most breathtaking digital environments, from state-of-the-art 8K planetariums to dark rides in top tier theme parks to exhibitions in the world’s most visited museums.
The company’s high-performance uncompressed Delta Media Servers are the product of choice wherever high quality, high resolution, high frame rate, high fidelity video content is required. And those products are fully supported by 7thSense’s Stack content management framework, which can be used to intelligently design, schedule, control and develop shows and content of any kind.
7thSense Design managing director Matt Barton and technical director Richard Brown explain more about the company.
What’s the driving force behind 7thSense? MB: For the company, the team and the product, it’s always been about getting as many good high-fidelity pixels on the screen as possible. The architecture of Delta from day one has been uncompressed and every evolution of the product has stemmed from that baseline.
RB: The amount of uncompressed pixels we can process is our claim to fame. We believe our server is capable of processing the largest throughput, the highest performance and highest number of pixels on the market. Our niche is high quality image rendering, so the timing, the frame rate and the bit depth are core elements.
MB: For example, the use of Delta Infinity technology marked the world’s first ever live-action uncompressed 4K 120Hz per eye 3D test during previews of Ang Lee’s technologically groundbreaking film, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, in September.
Why is 7thSense a good fit with the attractions industry? MB: It’s about the feeling of immersion through quality. The core team of 7thSense has a background in flight simulation, so from early on they knew that for an experience to really work, a fighter pilot has to truly believe he’s on a mission. To do that the simulation has to be so realistic and seamless that he can’t be distracted.
In a theme park ride, the audience has to be entirely immersed in the story from the minute they step into the queue. They will see the story in the theming, in the written text, on monitors, all the way through to when they load into the vehicle. Everything builds up to this point, so it’s essential that when the ride starts, the visuals are as immersive and believable as everything else they’ve seen. We’re ideally suited because we have that background of understanding what it takes to fully immerse someone in the experience.
How do you work with clients? MB: We enjoy in-depth relationships with the most respected AV integrators in the world and with experience designers. We talk to them at a detailed level about the product and how it can be used.
RB: Some clients just buy what they need. They know how it works, plus 7thSense has a comprehensive support system, including a customer portal, live chat and trained customer support representatives.
MB: We often contribute to the project design and development process. We can get involved at the early stages of the big projects, to make sure that the configuration from architects is as good as it can be, consulting on how best to approach the configuration for a particular display system on an attraction. As well as working with leading-edge integrators, we also work directly with the large theme park operators in the US, China and Europe.
What other projects can you talk about? MB: We work on big-budget rides, but also on unique or smaller scale experiences. For example, Madame Tussaud’s in New York is using a Delta Nano to create a Pepper’s Ghost of Slimer in the Ghostbusters Experience. We’re also involved in 3D projection mapping projects, such as New York’s One World Observatory. We support digital signage in Times Square. We’re upgrading some high-profile planetariums. And interactivity, whether gesture based, or through VR or AR, is something we increasingly deliver as part of a solution.
We’re involved in a new 3D LED computer game-based ride. Delta is ideally suited to projection, large format, high resolution LED walls – and pretty much any complex display environment you can think of.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2016 issue 4
BACKGROUND BRIEFING 7thSense Design was founded in 2004 by simulation experts Adam Neale and Ian Macpherson, who wanted to take what they knew about display systems and apply it to the entertainment industry. They developed software which they were able to sell into the planetarium market, and since then the company has consistently innovated and improved the solution to build the highest quality product.
In 2015, long-term colleagues Matt Barton, Richard Brown, Ian Cannell and Ken Showler took over the growing company, which today has a UK office, a US office serving its busiest market and trusted distributors around the world.
IMAGE: ELECTROSONIC
Mass Effect: New Earth, a 4D Holographic Journey
PRODUCT OFFER Delta Media Server Delta Media Servers are an integral part of numerous cutting-edge AV attractions. The product provides real-time uncompressed video serving, show creation and display matching. The range starts with Infinity, the most powerful, and includes the Nucleus, Proton and Nano, so there’s a model to suit the requirements of any project.
Stack Stack is an intuitive advanced modular framework for content management. Developed hand in hand with Delta, Stack enables remote access show control and, through special modules, access to digital signage, closed captioning and more.
Delta Media Server
7thSense has supplied numerous projects, including the Rolling Stones’ Exhibitionism show / IMAGE: LD Communications and Electrosonic
Ultimate Energy Theatre at Wuhan Movie Park / IMAGE: WINCOMN
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Matt Barton, managing director (left) and Richard Brown technical director
7thSense Design supplies the media servers that power some of the industry’s most breathtaking digital environments, from state-of-the-art 8K planetariums to dark rides in top tier theme parks to exhibitions in the world’s most visited museums.
The company’s high-performance uncompressed Delta Media Servers are the product of choice wherever high quality, high resolution, high frame rate, high fidelity video content is required. And those products are fully supported by 7thSense’s Stack content management framework, which can be used to intelligently design, schedule, control and develop shows and content of any kind.
7thSense Design managing director Matt Barton and technical director Richard Brown explain more about the company.
What’s the driving force behind 7thSense? MB: For the company, the team and the product, it’s always been about getting as many good high-fidelity pixels on the screen as possible. The architecture of Delta from day one has been uncompressed and every evolution of the product has stemmed from that baseline.
RB: The amount of uncompressed pixels we can process is our claim to fame. We believe our server is capable of processing the largest throughput, the highest performance and highest number of pixels on the market. Our niche is high quality image rendering, so the timing, the frame rate and the bit depth are core elements.
MB: For example, the use of Delta Infinity technology marked the world’s first ever live-action uncompressed 4K 120Hz per eye 3D test during previews of Ang Lee’s technologically groundbreaking film, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, in September.
Why is 7thSense a good fit with the attractions industry? MB: It’s about the feeling of immersion through quality. The core team of 7thSense has a background in flight simulation, so from early on they knew that for an experience to really work, a fighter pilot has to truly believe he’s on a mission. To do that the simulation has to be so realistic and seamless that he can’t be distracted.
In a theme park ride, the audience has to be entirely immersed in the story from the minute they step into the queue. They will see the story in the theming, in the written text, on monitors, all the way through to when they load into the vehicle. Everything builds up to this point, so it’s essential that when the ride starts, the visuals are as immersive and believable as everything else they’ve seen. We’re ideally suited because we have that background of understanding what it takes to fully immerse someone in the experience.
How do you work with clients? MB: We enjoy in-depth relationships with the most respected AV integrators in the world and with experience designers. We talk to them at a detailed level about the product and how it can be used.
RB: Some clients just buy what they need. They know how it works, plus 7thSense has a comprehensive support system, including a customer portal, live chat and trained customer support representatives.
MB: We often contribute to the project design and development process. We can get involved at the early stages of the big projects, to make sure that the configuration from architects is as good as it can be, consulting on how best to approach the configuration for a particular display system on an attraction. As well as working with leading-edge integrators, we also work directly with the large theme park operators in the US, China and Europe.
What other projects can you talk about? MB: We work on big-budget rides, but also on unique or smaller scale experiences. For example, Madame Tussaud’s in New York is using a Delta Nano to create a Pepper’s Ghost of Slimer in the Ghostbusters Experience. We’re also involved in 3D projection mapping projects, such as New York’s One World Observatory. We support digital signage in Times Square. We’re upgrading some high-profile planetariums. And interactivity, whether gesture based, or through VR or AR, is something we increasingly deliver as part of a solution.
We’re involved in a new 3D LED computer game-based ride. Delta is ideally suited to projection, large format, high resolution LED walls – and pretty much any complex display environment you can think of.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2016 issue 4
BACKGROUND BRIEFING 7thSense Design was founded in 2004 by simulation experts Adam Neale and Ian Macpherson, who wanted to take what they knew about display systems and apply it to the entertainment industry. They developed software which they were able to sell into the planetarium market, and since then the company has consistently innovated and improved the solution to build the highest quality product.
In 2015, long-term colleagues Matt Barton, Richard Brown, Ian Cannell and Ken Showler took over the growing company, which today has a UK office, a US office serving its busiest market and trusted distributors around the world.
IMAGE: ELECTROSONIC
Mass Effect: New Earth, a 4D Holographic Journey
PRODUCT OFFER Delta Media Server Delta Media Servers are an integral part of numerous cutting-edge AV attractions. The product provides real-time uncompressed video serving, show creation and display matching. The range starts with Infinity, the most powerful, and includes the Nucleus, Proton and Nano, so there’s a model to suit the requirements of any project.
Stack Stack is an intuitive advanced modular framework for content management. Developed hand in hand with Delta, Stack enables remote access show control and, through special modules, access to digital signage, closed captioning and more.
Delta Media Server
7thSense has supplied numerous projects, including the Rolling Stones’ Exhibitionism show / IMAGE: LD Communications and Electrosonic
Ultimate Energy Theatre at Wuhan Movie Park / IMAGE: WINCOMN
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Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
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complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
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The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
Royal Caribbean has revealed its Hero of the Seas cruise ship, home to the most pools at sea
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