Digital Spherical Displays
Viva La Puffers June 2008
The PufferTeam are finally returning to regular sleep patterns after two more-than-productive-16-hour-a-day months
that saw us design, develop, build, test and successfully deliver six custom-built road-touring 'Magic Balls'
for the World Tour of Coldplay's new Number One UK and US album 'Viva la Vida'....
Chris Martin's excited: "It's like a light show you've never seen before", "they're the most magic balls since John Lee Hooker had about 50 kids."
Read the blog review at The Modern Age: special thanks to Miss Modernage for her lovely photos!
See pictures taken by fans attending the band's free concert at Madison Square Garden NYC here
Special thanks to XL Video and Green Hippo
Raimon Land, 'The Lofts Southshore' Launch Party, Pattaya, Thailand May 2008
Pufferfish and Orbit Design teamed with top Thai luxury property developer Raimon Land, delivering a
slickly branded digital sphere of influence for the launch of their new Pattaya properties.
After taking centre stage at the launch party for The Lofts Southshore, the PufferSphere was then used to show footage shot earlier in the day aboard Raimon Land's sponsored yacht in the Top of the Gulf Regatta. The yacht sailed brilliantly
to win the royally sponsored 'HM The King's Platu Coronation Cup' and the PufferSphere was no less impressive, with Raimon Land proud to become the first Thai owners of a PufferSphere!
The PufferSphere is now stationed permanently in Bangkok where it will take pride of place in the impressive glass facade of the marketing suite at The River, Raimon Land’s landmark development in the heart of the Thai capital. However, thanks to its highly portable nature, the PufferSphere will be able to accompany Raimon Land to events and presentations across Thailand, spreading the spherical goodness far and wide!
You might see it if you visit Thailand, it's a beautiful place.
Google Zeitgeist Europe May 2008
Were you among the great and the good that attended the 2008 Google Zeitgeist Europe Gala Dinner, as well as hob-nobbing with Gordon Brown and others you'd have witnessed the appearance of some of YouTube's most viewed performers, not only live in person, but also live on spherical TV. With two PufferSpheres in orbit above the crowd and the performers, live video feeds of the action were run through a Green Hippo Hippotizer. With a little Puffermagic, the artists and entertainers added their first performance on the spherical screen to the millions they have already clocked up online.
In the intervals between performances, the PufferSpheres transformed into giant goldfish bowls, starring our two pet goldfish, who shall remain unnamed for legal reasons.
See our video here
You can see more of the whole day-long event via YouTube, though as these videos are made up of the footage that was being shot for display on the PufferSpheres, the PufferSpheres themselves are not visible.
Standard Life Investments Cocktail Party May 2008
Pufferfish got all aboard with the wonderful people at Night Train Productions to create two stunning spherical focal points for Standard Life Investments' lavish Annual Cocktail Party at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. As well as supplying and suspending the PufferSphere hardware, Pufferfish also designed a bespoke motion graphics package for display on all screens, spherical and non. The content used colours specially selected from Standard Life Investments' brand-palate and incorporated animated images and 3D models of the company's various properties and premises.
Keep an eye out for our video of the event, as well as a sneaky peak at the flat-screen showreel, both coming soon!
National Oceanography Centre, March 2008
Pufferfish dusted off their buckets and spades, piled in to the Puffervan and headed for the balmy climes of the south coast and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton.
The NOC's annual Ocean and Earth Day offers the public a chance to meet those at the forefront of oceanographic research, explore the various technology involved in gathering oceanographic data and, most importantly, develop their understanding of how the changes ongoing in the world's ocean affect us all on dry land.
The PufferSphere was used to display the complex datasets developed by Dr Andrew Coward in an engaging and easily understood manner. Allowing visitors and researchers alike to see the models played out around a glowing 2m digital globe, the tactile PufferSphere brought the data to life in such a way that young and old, experts and novices could better grasp the processes at work under the surface of our blue planet.
Watch the Video
TPI Awards, February 2008 Pufferfish teamed up with Green Hippo and a host of AV wonderkids to set the stage for the TPI Awards. Simon Amstell took the helm as the production industry slipped into their penguin suits and took a night off (for once) for a bit of well-deserved back slapping amid the grandiose surroundings of the Grosvenor, Park Lane.
Finnish Live TV Odyssey
Pufferfish put on their woolliest socks, dusted off their novelty Moomin undercrackers and set out for Helsinki Finland to bring a touch of spherical sparkle to the Finnish 'Golden TV' Kultainen TV Awards. Hippotizer supremo and general AV god Johan West was on hand, along with Finland's foremost lighting designer Mikki Kunttu, and between them they set the event space alight using a whole sack of AV goodness, garnished with a couple of well placed PufferSpheres. A live TV first for Pufferfish, and not without its challenges, but a whole heap of Hippo-driven fun with Mikki, Johan and, via the magical medium of live TV, the entire Finnish nation. Golden TV it most certainly was.
Why not visit Finland?
Sweden Rocks!
Pufferfish return from Stockholm waving little Swedish flags and extolling the virtues of the Hippotizer following a night of Nordic notoriety at Rock Bjornen, Sweden's national music awards.
Pufferfish supplied two PufferSpheres, which were flown from motorised truss-work in the VIP back stage area. Content was supplied to both displays via a single Green Hippo Hippotizer media server. During the pre-ceremony reception the PufferSpheres were lowered to eye level above two large rotating circular buffet tables, providing uber-cool spherical branding whilst a veritable smorgasbord of Swedish celebrities and pop-icons nibbled in anticipation.
Post ceremony, with the awards being grasped tightly in the sweaty palms of their proud new owners, the reception area transformed into nightclub mode. The PufferSpheres were raised to make way for what must have been one of the best-looking dance floors ever known to man and, whilst the Hippotizer pumped fresh and funky disco-ball style content around them, the Swedish pop-princesses and rock-bears underneath partied long and hard into the Stockholm dawn.
Visit Sweden we loved it!
New Partner
Pufferfish are delighted to announce a new partnership with Green Hippo, a thoroughly brilliant bunch of like-minds, intent on delivering stunning, user-friendly AV solutions through their Hippotizer Media Servers, the world's defacto choice for realtime video playback.
By developing a free 'Pufferizer' plug-in, Green Hippo have opened up a second route to spherical content production, allowing for realtime 'spherising' of any type of content, in addition to our existing pre-rendering option. The Hippotizer offers up to four separate live video feeds, syncing with all AV industry protocols, and many advanced VJ solutions. The Pufferizer plug-in completes Pufferfish's content offering, providing total flexibility in the development and integration of all types of media. With this in mind, Pufferfish recommend the Hippotizer as their preferred realtime solution, allowing users to create awesome spherical displays at the click of a button.