Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1255991
30 I ICT TODAY AUDIOVISUAL One of ANSYS Hall's main priorities for its AV system was ease of use. The team's vision was for any user to be able to enter a room and interact with an AV system that looked, felt, and operated just like the other AV systems throughout the university. This was a common goal, and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) had been work- ing to streamline its AV technologies across campus, not just in ANSYS Hall. Another AV priority was to provide users the ability to share content across different spaces; the design studio, the high bay, and the simulation room, which were three very different areas, were connected to form a single cohesive system. The high bay and design studio were designed together to the end so that they could share content to and from the simulation room. A large over- head garage door separated the simulation room from the high bay makerspace, which gave students and faculty the ability to learn and teach fluidly between both areas. For example, students can conceptualize and develop a project in the design studio and then wish to move into the high bay makerspace to actualize their ideas. The con- tinuity that ANSYS Hall's AV systems provided allowed this process to occur seamlessly. FINE DETAILS Designing a system for smaller spaces in close proximity took special considerations from an AV standpoint. The team implemented HDBaseT technology for ANSYS Hall that allowed an instructor to connect a laptop either wire- lessly (using a wireless collaboration system) or to one of the wired connections. In the design studio, an instructor can now present using one or all of the multiple display options, with the choice of a large panoramic projection screen with dual ultra-short throw projectors that use edge-blending tech- nology or a 55-inch flat panel display. The instructor has the freedom to move into the high bay makerspace where 75-inch and 55-inch displays are available for use. Remark- ably, an instructor may also choose to present to all these displays simultaneously. Due to the exposed nature of the ceiling and the two-stories of space that comprised the makerspace, pendant mounted speakers were designed to work in tan- dem with these displays. Having the audio system func- tioning in the same manner—with program audio avail- able in either or both spaces at the same time—rendered ANSYS Hall a comprehensive, efficient, useful, and highly functional facility for all learning and teaching styles. THE SIMULATION ROOM The AV technology design of the simulation room was revised multiple times. The AV system in the simulation room combined both HDBaseT and AV over IP (AVoIP) to optimize collaboration and content sharing. Users of this facility needed the ability to share educational content with a medium-sized group of students but encountered an issue with space. The size restrictions of the room and the number of students expected to attend a class there ruled out the option of placing multiple large monitors throughout the room; students would lack the best sightlines. The ceiling of the room hung only eight feet high. In the crowded room, which spanned 41 feet by 34 feet, there were five elongated rows of desks for students. Because of these restraints, students in the last row would not have an acceptable view of the displays at the front of the room, thereby hindering their learning experience. A TALE OF TWO SOLUTIONS The team worked in tandem with users to brainstorm a handful of solutions that would streamline classes for all students regardless of their location in the room. In the first concept design, students would have mul- tiple monitors at their desks—one connected to a desktop computer and the others connected to the AV system prompted by an instructor. This way, an instructor could present at the head of the classroom with the aid of two 90-inch displays as well as the monitors in front of each student. Though this solution may have provided the best learning experience, it was not the most overall cost- effective solution. This AV solution would require HDBaseT hardware to allow a presenter to connect wired or wirelessly to the displays in front of the room, but then it would require an AVoIP solution to push the presenter's content to each student's monitors.