Broadcast Solutions, one of Europe’s largest media systems integration groups, has completed a remarkable project to create an extensive infrastructure at Aalto University, in Otaniemi, Finland. The project provides an interconnected media platform across a total of 28 rooms, from large-scale studios to experimental workshops.
Aalto University, the leading academic facility in Finland, is ranked 8th in the world for its arts & design programme. Central to this is Aalto Studios, hub for media, design and digital creativity. The university recently embarked on a large project to redevelop Aalto Studios facilities to make it a centre of excellence for students, researchers and professionals in film, television, gaming, virtual reality and digital learning. It also provides a base for Aalto’s participation in international programmes like the European Media and Immersion Lab and MAGICS, exploring immersive and remote technologies.
While the university, working with external consultants, had developed ambitious concepts, Broadcast Solutions won a competitive tender to bring these ideas to practical reality. Through collegiate collaboration with all parties, Broadcast Solutions delivered a facility unlike anything generally found in universities.
The 28 rooms in Aalto Studios range from a live stage and full production studios with associated control rooms, to labs in which students can develop and test new equipment while still drawing on the shared resources as required. A dedicated sound control room can be associated with major productions, used with voiceover spaces, or for audio sweetening.
The largest production space includes both green screen and LED volume augmented and virtual reality capabilities, developed in conjunction with Finnish specialist Electro Waves. The complex also includes a digital cinema, with 4k laser projection and immersive sound.
All the rooms are linked via a central IP spine, using enterprise-class Arista switches. The network has on- and off-ramps for SDI sources as well as NDI, Dante audio capability, and control networks allowing equipment to be allocated to rooms as needed.
The orchestration of resources is under the control of hi human interface, developed in conjunction with Broadcast Solutions to provide intuitive control of rich media infrastructures. Given that some new and untested equipment may need to be added to the network in the research labs, hi human interface also ensures the rest of the architecture is protected.
“Our bold ambition was to provide an unrivalled environment for our academics to research and our students to learn, experiment and develop,” said Marcus Korhonen, operative director at Aalto University. “Beyond that, we wanted the space to be valuable to everyone in the university, so they can enjoy the best in the arts as well as understanding how modern media and gaming can be transformative in their own fields.”
Antti Laurila, Managing Director at Broadcast Solutions Nordic added, “This was one of the most exciting and challenging projects we have undertaken, because of its scale and ambition. We started with the bold ideas and concepts from the university, and streamlined them into a design which was deliverable within the constraints of the project, and still achieved what the university wanted to present to its students and faculty. Ultimately, this is a showcase facility, for the university and for what modern, software-centric media installations can achieve.”
