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BNR Computer Services Ltd
Representative hospital lift interior with a digital rainforest display

Case study · Software & Business Systems

Hanging Gardens Lift Experience at Guy’s Hospital

Bespoke sensing, software and display control synchronised rainforest video with the movement of three lifts.

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ClientMariele Neudecker of BV Studios
SectorHealthcare Environment / Bespoke Integration
Related capabilitySoftware & Business Systems

Starting point

Translate an artistic idea into a precisely timed physical experience.

Artist Mariele Neudecker, commissioned for the new cancer centre, envisioned digital rainforest content beside the London view in each of three lifts. To create the intended effect, video movement had to match each lift as it ascended and descended rather than playing at a fixed speed.

01

When the illusion depends on timing

The creative concept depended on physical precision. If the rainforest content moved independently of the lift, the visual illusion would fail. The team therefore needed a way to measure speed and distance with sufficiently rapid response, communicate those measurements to a bespoke application and alter playback for both ascent and descent. All of this had to operate within the practical space and installation constraints of three working lifts in a healthcare environment.

02

From laser sensing to playback

Software and hardware specialists worked together from the outset. They researched sensors that could respond quickly enough to changing lift speed and distance, then wrote a bespoke application to turn those readings into video control. Testing in-house and on site led to laser sensors beneath the lift cars. Each sensor communicated with the application on a custom ultra-compact PC fitted behind the display. The same team carried the idea through research, development, integration, testing, supply and installation.

03

Three lifts, one synchronised experience

Across all three lifts, the rainforest playback responded to the physical journey of the lift. Laser sensing, bespoke software, compact computers and digital displays operated as one timed installation. The artistic concept therefore reached the building in the form it required: the view and the rainforest moving together through ascent and descent.

Delivery

Technology and expertise used on the project

  • Bespoke application development
  • Speed and distance sensing
  • Software and hardware integration
  • Ultra-compact computing
  • Digital display control
  • In-house and on-site testing

Relevant BNR capability today

BNR can make unusual software and hardware requirements workable.

BNR can tackle similarly unusual requirements where sensors, displays, compact computers and custom software must work together in a confined space.

Explore the capability behind this work

Software & Business Systems

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