Ever wonder how those magicians at Disney pull off the incredible timing of light, sound, and special effects that go into rides like Space Mountain and Na’vi River Journey? From theme parks to stadium tours and museum exhibits to immersive art installations, show control is the bit of programming and design magic that helps bring these unforgettable experiences to life.
Seamless show control is essential to the ultimate success or failure of your experience. In this article, we’ll introduce you to how show control works, its role in multimedia events and brand activations, and how to find the perfect partner to ensure your project inspires awe.
Show control is the hardware and software that coordinates the technology behind an immersive experience from start-up to shutdown, and the multitude of sounds, visuals, and other effects that might take place in between. Show control is what automates the entire experience.
Visually, it usually looks like a little black box with many ethernet ports. Although unassuming from the outside, it’s a powerful piece of technology. For shorter run experiences of less than a week, sometimes a human performs the task of show control, but for longer exhibits and permanent installations, the hardware and software are essential.
In today's fast-paced and constantly evolving digital landscape, modern marketers must find creative and engaging ways to capture and retain their audience's attention. One key strategy that has emerged is the use of immersive experiences, such as interactive exhibits, virtual and augmented reality, and live events. To truly immerse the audience in these environments, however, the use of show control is crucial.
Show control hardware and software play a pivotal role in synchronizing and delivering content seamlessly, enhancing the overall experience, and ensuring that the audience remains fully engaged. Beyond this, show control software can also alert technicians when a part or piece of equipment is about to fail, saving valuable time and resources. Specific examples of this technology in action include fully immersive theme parks and interactive museum exhibits, such as “The Universe” exhibit at Adler Planetarium. By leveraging show control technologies, brands, and cultural organizations can provide their audiences with immersive experiences that will take their brands to the next level.
Show control provides a wealth of benefits that allow marketers to efficiently and effectively reach their intended audiences. One of the most significant advantages of show control technology is its cost-effectiveness. Marketers can easily scale up or down their campaigns depending on their budget, thus making it an excellent option for small businesses with limited budgets. Additionally, show control technology is highly scalable, allowing marketers to use it across various platforms and mediums.
The technology's adaptability is another crucial feature that enables marketers to refine and tailor their marketing campaigns to their target markets. For example, immersive experiences can be deployed across various platforms, from event activations to virtual experiences on social media. Furthermore, show control allows for advanced analytics and data collection by tracking user interactions, behavior, and preferences. These insights can be used to improve marketing efforts, refine audience targeting, and create personalized experiences. This, in turn, helps to optimize immersive marketing campaigns and promote better customer engagement and retention.
When it comes to creating immersive experiences, having the right show control partner can make all the difference. But how do you evaluate and select the appropriate partner for your specific marketing needs?
To start, consider their experience with hardware, software, and technical support. Programming expertise is also critical to ensure that the experience is seamless, scalable, and easy to maintain and repair over time. Additionally, finding a partner with experience in right-sizing control systems and architecture is key. You want just enough technology, not too much or too little.
Remember that there's no one-size-fits-all solution. There are many ways to bring a brand experience to life, and each has to be weighed in terms of its pros and cons and impacts on budget, function, projected lifespan, and more. An experienced partner can navigate this and help create the best system to meet your needs and your budget.
Creating a seamless experience begins with strategy and planning. It’s vital to think through all the potential scenarios and special occasions when the experience might need to be run at different times or in different ways. It’s also imperative to plan for updates, repairs, and maintenance from the very beginning. Choosing an experienced partner early in the project is one way to ensure that the final product optimizes the power of this technology in an effective and efficient way. Building in redundancy and testing the system thoroughly is also crucial before launching a new experience. Having replacement parts available and the confidence that your project is properly programmed and firing successfully every single time will save you future headaches and costly downtime.
When show control goes sideways it’s immediately obvious. The music starts at the wrong time. The camera flashes a moment too late. But if the interactive elements are perfectly choreographed, we tend to not notice. The experience is simply awe.
As customer expectations continue to evolve, more and more brands are looking for awe. Show control is the behind-the-scenes conductor of immersive experiences, allowing you to create unforgettable moments for your audiences, boosting brand awareness, driving engagement, and bolstering brand loyalty. At Bridgewater, we help brands create unforgettable multimedia experiences from customer experience centers to interactive science exhibits to custom-fabricated photo kiosks. Find out how we can help bring your next experience to life by booking a no-obligation introduction to Bridgewater today.