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    Global Kitchen Hood Market (2020 to 2026) – Key Drivers and – GlobeNewswire

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Dublin, Aug. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Kitchen Hood Market Outlook, 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

    A kitchen hood, exhaust hood, or range hood is a device containing a mechanical fan that hangs above the stove or cooktop in the kitchen. It removes airborne grease, combustion products, fumes, smoke, heat, and steam from the air by evacuation of the air and filtration. Although largely overlooked, a range hood is one of the most important appliances in the kitchen. They are designed to remove odors, heat, and smoke that can occur while cooking. The Global Kitchen Hood Market Outlook, 2026 report beings from an overview of industry structure, and analyses market size and forecast of the market by product, region, sales channel, and company. In addition, this report introduces the market competition situation among the vendors and company profile, besides, market price analysis and value chain features are covered in this report. The trend growth to keep the kitchen well-managed, clean, and elegant looking space is to allow the market to grow over an anticipated CGAR of 4.9%.

    Based on product type the range hood market is classified into wall mount hood, under cabinet type hood, ceiling mount, and others like island mount hood, downdraft ventilation hoods, ventilator power pack hoods, and others. The wall mount product segment is anticipated to expand at over 5.6% CAGR through 2026. The range hoods with their ability to be placed in the walls with needing extra space in the kitchen cabinets is the major factor for the market growth. These systems assist in getting rid of smoke and lingering smell completely as they are installed directly above the cooking range in commercial and residential kitchens. While the under cabinet segment is likely to show a decline in the forecasted period, others are expected to have an incline in the market share. Kitchen hoods are steadily replacing exhaust fans as they are more effective in the ventilation process. Hence, the need to effectively reduce the excess heat in the kitchen and demand for advanced home appliances that support efficient and convenient cooking habits is increasing the installation as they are capable of smoke and odor through baffle and mesh filters.

    First, the concentration degree of the Kitchen Hood industry is not high, with North America leading with a market share of 33.93% in the year 2020. There are more than a hundred manufacturers in the world, and high-end products mainly from Germany, America, Italy, and China. Italy has a long history and unshakable statuses in this industry, like Elica and Faber (though it is a part of FRANKE now), both have the perfect design. As to Germany, the Bosch Group has become a global leader, which has two main brands (Bosch and Siemens), and several special brands, such as Thermador. The import and export percent of this industry is high. Chinese products mainly export to Oceania, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and take a big market share of underdevelopment regions market, like Vietnam, Brazil, and Pakistan. Hong Kong is the biggest export market of China, more than 80% of kitchen hoods are from China mainland. On the developed market, like America, Canada, Germany, and France, Italy is the empire. Mexico also has a large number of exports due to its geographic advantage. By the end of the forecasted period, Latin America along with Middle East & Africa regions together is likely to cross over a market share of 12%.

    Market leaders are introducing new models of wall mount range hoods in various sizes and shapes to cater to the growing demand. For instance, in January 2019, Elica launched its new Varna Black Vent Hood with enhanced aesthetic appeal and a black stainless steel finish. The system includes multifunctional and intuitive electronic touch controls that enhance user convenience. The hood is integrated with an advanced HUSH Sound Suppression System that ensures low noise and provides a quiet working environment in the kitchen. Stringent regulations by various regional governments regarding the cleanliness and hygiene in restaurants and food chains have mandated the installation of range hoods, which is also boosting the market growth. Moreover, these devices offer added advantages, such as heat reduction, maintenance of air quality, and increased safety. On the other hand, high maintenance costs and availability of substitutes, such as exhaust, are anticipated to hamper the growth of the market.

    This report forecasts revenue growth at regional and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2015 to 2026. For this study, the publisher has segmented the Global Kitchen Hood Market report based on product, distribution channel, and region:

    Key Topics Covered:

    1. Executive Summary

    2. Report Methodology

    3. Global Kitchen Hood Market Outlook3.1. Market Size by Value3.2. Market Share3.2.1. By Product Type3.2.2. By Sales Channel3.2.3. By Region3.2.4. By Country3.2.5. By Company

    4. North America Kitchen Hood Market Outlook4.1. Market Size by Value4.2. Market Share4.2.1. By Product Type4.2.2. By Sales Channel4.2.3. By Country4.3. US Kitchen Hood Market Outlook4.3.1. Market Size by Value4.3.2. Market Share by Product Type4.4. Canada Kitchen Hood Market Outlook4.4.1. Market Size by Value4.4.2. Market Share by Product Type4.5. Mexico Kitchen Hood Market Outlook4.5.1. Market Size by Value4.5.2. Market Share by Product Type

    5. Europe Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.1. Market Size by Value5.2. Market Share5.2.1. By Product Type5.2.2. By Sales Channel5.2.3. By Country5.3. Germany Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.3.1. Market Size by Value5.3.2. Market Share by Product Type5.4. UK Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.4.1. Market Size by Value5.4.2. Market Share by Product Type5.5. France Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.5.1. Market Size by Value5.5.2. Market Share by Product Type5.6. Spain Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.6.1. Market Size by Value5.6.2. Market Share by Product Type5.7. Italy Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.7.1. Market Size by Value5.7.2. Market Share by Product Type5.8. Russia Kitchen Hood Market Outlook5.8.1. Market Size by Value5.8.2. Market Share by Product Type

    6. Asia-Pacific Kitchen Hood Market Outlook6.1. Market Size by Value6.2. Market Share6.2.1. By Product Type6.2.2. By Sales Channel6.2.3. By Country6.3. China Kitchen Hood Market Outlook6.3.1. Market Size by Value6.3.2. Market Share by Product Type6.4. Japan Kitchen Hood Market Outlook6.4.1. Market Size by Value6.4.2. Market Share by Product Type6.5. India Kitchen Hood Market Outlook6.5.1. Market Size by Value6.5.2. Market Share by Product Type6.6. Australia Kitchen Hood Market Outlook6.6.1. Market Size by Value6.6.2. Market Share by Product Type

    7. Latin America Kitchen Hood Market Outlook7.1. Market Size by Value7.2. Market Share7.2.1. By Product Type7.2.2. By Sales Channel7.2.3. By Country7.3. Brazil Kitchen Hood Market Outlook7.3.1. Market Size by Value7.3.2. Market Share by Product Type7.4. Argentina Kitchen Hood Market Outlook7.4.1. Market Size by Value7.4.2. Market Share by Product Type7.5. Columbia Kitchen Hood Market Outlook7.5.1. Market Size by Value7.5.2. Market Share by Product Type

    8. Middle East & Africa Kitchen Hood Market Outlook8.1. Market Size by Value8.2. Market Share8.2.1. By Product Type8.2.2. By Sales Channel8.2.3. By Country8.3. UAE Kitchen Hood Market Outlook8.3.1. Market Size by Value8.3.2. Market Share by Product Type8.4. Saudi Arabia Kitchen Hood Market Outlook8.4.1. Market Size by Value8.4.2. Market Share by Product Type8.5. Qatar Kitchen Hood Market Outlook8.5.1. Market Size by Value8.5.2. Market Share By Product Type8.6. South Africa Kitchen Hood Market Outlook8.6.1. Market Size by Value8.6.2. Market Share by Product Type

    9. Market Dynamics9.1. Key Drivers9.2. Key Challenges

    10. Market Trends and Developments10.1. Artificial Intelligence10.2. Alarm Feature10.3. Dishwasher-Safe Baffle Filters10.4. Environmental Variability11. Company Profiles11.1. Asko Appliances11.2. Broan Inc11.3. BSH Home Appliances11.4. Elica S.P.A11.5. Faber S.P.A11.6. Falmec S.P.A

    12. Strategic Recommendations

    13. Disclaimer

    For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xc3e9v

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    Global Kitchen Hood Market (2020 to 2026) - Key Drivers and - GlobeNewswire

    Inside the ethereal dreamscape of immersive art exhibition, ‘Tidepools’ the Hi-lo – Long Beach Post

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    An ambient soundscape drones through hidden speakers, the composition akin to the pleasant hums of a sound bath. Whooshing. Rhythmless. Meditative.

    The tour guide, in this case Allison Wall, proceeds by clicking a pocket flashlight, which beams an unobtrusive red light.

    Watch your step walking up, she says, raising her voice to speak slightly louder. The resonant soundtrack projects at a volume that would be overbearing were it any other genre.

    Youre led down a dark hallway. The clad-wood floor creaks with every step, as if one were walking on an old ship deck punished for decades by sun and sea. Combined with the music, one might imagine theyre walking through a portal to an ancient, faraway temple.

    The auditory illusion is charming, considering the floor and the conjoining installation yet to be seen were only recently constructed by artist Glenn Kaino.

    You turn left into an open room, brighter than the hallway but still dimly lit. The walls are covered from the floor to the structural ceiling beams in the same wood cladding you were treading moments before. But that observation comes later, as your head immediately swivels left, eyes trained on two transparent boxes that appear to be glowing.

    Scrunching down to eye level with the bright, rectangular beacons, you seesalt? Or what looks like the granules, but holographic, without substance. They seem to be falling, some more steadily like misty rain but disrupted by darting grainy streams whizzing aimlessly in the confines, disappearing split seconds after appearing over and over.

    The cloud chambers are scientific devices that are designed to let you see air particles that we normally cant see with the naked eye, explains Wall, Compounds exhibition coordinator.

    Scientists from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory assisted Kaino in crafting the cloud chambers, sculptures that are emblematic of the LA-based multimedia artists fascination for science and obsession with illusion, the latter a skill he studied for over a decade that awarded him a membership at the exclusive Magic Castle.

    The base of the cloud chamber is charged with a layer of frozen isopropyl alcohol. When immersed in the evaporating mist, onlookers can see the grain-like manifestations of the neurons, protons, muons and alpha particles swirling inside.

    Its mesmerizing, said Hiroko Kusano, Compounds Chief Operation Officer.

    Wall directs your attention left, toward a wall-hung 3D art composition encased behind glass.

    Shiny bits of golden-colored metal deconstructed from model car kits explode around a spiky sea urchin placed in the center; Kaino calls it Tidepools.

    Tidepools is also the name of the entire immersive art installation currently on display inside Compounds Laboratory room. Every four to five months the art venue and wellness center will commission an artist to take over the 1,900 square-foot warehouse and transform the space into something wholly unique.

    Glenn Kaino was commissioned for the venues inaugural show, which formally opened its doors July 15 after not one, but two COVID-19 related setbacks.

    The Laboratory is meant to be experimental, Kusano said and awards the artist absolute creative freedom. A second, more traditional-style gallery is inside the venues main building, titled Radical Empathy.

    Reservations are required to see Tidepools, and only groups from the same household may enter together, masked while indoors. Guests are encouraged to roam Compounds main complex and sculpture garden freely as a text notification will alert guests for their turn.

    The Tidepools tour is about 10 minutes long and consists of two phases. The cloud chamber is the first, the second is the bioluminescent wishing well. The ambient soundtrack by musicians Nosaj Thing and Jacques Green is considered the third component of the installation, but only the first two are participatory.

    A wood cladding partition separates the cloud chamber from the wishing well. Rounding a corner, you spy six slim strips of red light emanating from the wood floor. The lines stop at each point of a transparent hexagonal container about three feet tall that slants upward at the top, creating a smaller six-sided opening.

    This is the wishing well, Wallsays. Step forward and you can make a wish and drop it in the well. The water illuminates the path of your wish and itll rest on the foundation of all the other wishes.

    Youll have to sanitize your hands momentarily. Wall will hand you a ceramic coin, a white palm-sized oval disk thats smooth to the touch. You take a few steps to approach the well and suddenly the red lights go out. After a moment you notice the wishing wells beckoning subtle blue hue.

    The water erupts upon contact with the disk into a bright, glittery aquamarine ripple. As it descends in the water the blue path is traced in a shimmery neon stream that lingers momentarily.

    The water, its got bioluminescent flagellatesits a type of plankton, Wall says. Any disturbance in the water and they will light up.

    This micro replication of the red tides, a natural phenomenon that sporadically occurs in Southern California beaches, including Long Beach shores, is another scientific collaboration, this time with the Scripps Institute.

    In the artists press release Kaino explains that his desire to create these magical, ethereal moments of visibility is a vehicle for empathy.

    Theyre intended to create moments of visibility for things that are invisible around us. Most people dont feel seen, understood. Making things visible is a form of empathy, he said. And the glowing trail you can actually visualize your wish!

    The experience ends when youre back at the dark reception room. This time though, Wall points out a projection of a 3D printed seashell dangling in front of the red spotlight. No one notices it when they first enter because their eyes are still adjusting, Wall explains.

    The Tidepools exhibition will be up until end of the year, organizers said. Entrance and exhibitions are free, however RSVP is strongly encouraged, click here. Compound is open from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

    Compound is at 1395 Coronado Ave.

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    Inside the ethereal dreamscape of immersive art exhibition, 'Tidepools' the Hi-lo - Long Beach Post

    Mark Bradford Puts Menorca on the Map – frieze.com

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Titled Masses and Movements, Mark Bradfords exhibition inaugurates Hauser & Wirths latest addition to its globe-spanning gallery empire, in the outbuildings of a former 18th-century hospital on Illa del Rei, an islet in the port of Ma, the diminutive capital of the island of Menorca. Yet, the new outposts somewhat unlikely remote location belies the dynamics of power, conquest and influence that have flowed for centuries around Menorcas strategically advantageous pin on the Mediterraneans naval map. Consisting of 16 intricately textured works on canvas, an installation of globes and a two-part mural, Bradford fittingly deals both literally and metaphorically with expansion into uncharted waters.

    Mark Bradford, Masses and Movements, 2021, installation view, Hauser & Wirth, Menorca. Courtesy: the artist and Hauser & Wirth, Menorca; photography: Stefan Altenburger

    The exhibitions central motif is the 1507 Waldseemller world map, the first to depict a landmass in the far reaches of the Atlantic and to name it America. Lines of latitude and longitude drawn with caulk arc across the scarified canvases made using Bradfords characteristic technique of gouging out and sanding away encrusted layers of glued paper at times recalling the boundaries of African nations, riverbeds, roads or windrose lines, the web-like networks of early navigational charts. Bones and Their Makers (all works 2021) is a brooding nocturne of leaden greys, caustic blacks and fragments of crooked continents formed by two panels originally intended as individual horizontal works. Jammed together to make a diptych, its central joint reads like a tectonic plate boundary, or a fold in a strange, stratified atlas of ashes and scrimshaw whale teeth decoratively etched by sailors in the 1800s.

    Mark Bradford, Spatial Equity, 2021 mixed media installation, dimensions variable.Courtesy: the artist and Hauser & Wirth; photo: Stefan Altenburger

    With an understated trail of clues laid by their titles, Bradfords paintings span from the European discovery of the New World, settler colonialism and the trade of enslaved peoples to the American Civil War and racialized urban zoning. Four works are named after chapters of a biography of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a man born into slavery in 1762 in present-day Haiti who rose to become a swashbuckling general in the French army. With fragments of comics appearing among their masses of dcollage, The Bottom of the Revolution and Sugar Factory seem to work over the same detail of the Waldseemller map or else one emulates the other, as if a bootleg copy. In contrast, The Price of Disaster appears to zoom far out, giving the impression of a planet moored in inky space. Its cacophony of colours recalls infrared satellite images used to monitor habitat loss and climate change, while its title points to W.E.B. Du Boiss analysis, in Black Reconstruction in America (1935), of Americas failure to take account of the legacies of slavery.

    Hanging in a row from the ceiling, Spatial Equity comprises seven black-and-gold paper globes of increasing size, as if Bradford were compelled to repeatedly create an ever bigger picture of world affairs. Yet, an untitled mural in an adjacent gallery is a cosmic retort to purely terrestrial paradigms. Painted on and scratched out of the walls, it juxtaposes the attenuated form of America on the 1507 map with a phrase that summarizes the then-impending revolution in astronomy: IN THE CENTER RESTS THE SUN, a reference to Nicolaus Copernicuss realization that the sun, not the Earth, was the centre of the universe.

    Mark Bradford, Masses and Movements, 2021, installation view, Hauser & Wirth, Menorca. Courtesy: the artist and Hauser & Wirth, Menorca; photography: Stefan Altenburger

    Paintings are only details, the artist remarked at the exhibitions preview, while connecting the curfews following the 1992 Los Angeles uprising to the uncanny sense of being outside during COVID-19 lockdowns, and how it might have felt to navigate into unknown seas in the 16th century. In his 2010 essay Amsterdam Is Standing on Norway, the environmental historian Jason W. Moore draws on a nautical metaphor to evoke the manoeuvres needed to unravel the epochal transformations of the early-modern world and how it shaped our own without becoming mired in particularisms: dialectical tacking. Likewise, Bradfords Masses and Movements manages to sail into the wind of expansive and enduring questions while literally only scratching the surface.

    Mark Bradford's Masses and Movements is on view at Hauser & Wirth Menorca until 31 October 2021.

    Main Image: Untitled(detail), 2021 mixed media installation, dimensions variable.Courtesy: the artist and Hauser & Wirth; photo: Stefan Altenburger

    Original post:
    Mark Bradford Puts Menorca on the Map - frieze.com

    Museum of Asia: Full of art from the past, not the past – Illinoisnewstoday.com

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    San Francisco

    Approaching the Beaux-Arts building of the Asian Museum from Civic Center Plaza across the street, you might think that nothing has changed for almost six years, despite over $ 100 million in expansion and upgrade projects. Hmm. Completed in 2020, we are currently opening a new exhibition space. However, when I go to the entrance from a nearby shop behind the museum, the three murals declare that it is not. From the floor-to-ceiling window, you can see the line drawing of Chanel Millers Know My Name: AMemoir. Jennifer K. Woffords colorful pattern recognition fills the wall at the street level. Then, around the corner, the blue and pink Do nt Mess With Me woman from Jas Charanjiba looks down from the terrace and raises one hand with the thumb of a brass knuckle. For a museum with a collection of about 6000 years, welcoming us with contemporary Asian works, the Asian diaspora is equivalent to shouting, Asian art is a phenomenon of the past, not the past.

    The museum has pointed out this point for a long time. The curator incorporated modern and contemporary paintings, pottery and other small and medium-sized works into some galleries of the collection, and exhibited a large installation in the lobby area on the ground floor. However, these often felt like isolated additions. Today, contemporary art has a larger and more integrated presence. The new 8,500-square-foot state-of-the-art gallery for special exhibitions allows one of the existing ground floor galleries to be dedicated to modern consignment and acquisition. In designing this extension, Los Angeles-based architect Kulapat Yantrasast added a rooftop art terrace that will open later this month or early September.

    Two pieces of glittering glass beads have already been prepared: Dont Mess With Me, Ai Weiweis 2007 Fountain of Light, and Vladimir Tatlins spiral 1919-20 Monument to the Third International. It has been. These include Ala Ebtekahs Luminous Ground. This is a 55-foot-long handmade tile in which the artist printed an image from the Hubble Telescope using a blueprint, an early photographic process in Prussian blue tones. From the terrace, visitors can enter the collection galleries on the 2nd and 3rd floors, where they can enter the world as diverse, dynamic and global as the world in which the artist currently works.

    Here, the layout has changed little, with a selection from the museums nearly 18,000 collections organized within a geographical section with both chronological and thematic groups. For example, a dark-walled room filled with Indonesian gold jewels or Chinese jade sculptures. Each section also selects one or two masterpieces with more eye-catching and informative presentations.

    Museum of Asia: Full of art from the past, not the past

    Source link Museum of Asia: Full of art from the past, not the past

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    Museum of Asia: Full of art from the past, not the past - Illinoisnewstoday.com

    Ask the Remodeler: How to level a garage and convert it – Boston.com

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Mark Philben -- Globe Correspondent

    August 4, 2021 11:53 am

    Q. My son just bought a home in Northern California and wants to convert the two-car garage into office space, but the concrete slab/foundation is pitched for water runoff. He was told it was approximately -inch per running foot, and the garage is 14 by 20 feet. He thinks the change in height is about 4 inches from front to back. The floor is in excellent condition overall, according to the foundation inspector who recently evaluated it. The floor has a thin underlayment material with vinyl plank flooring on top, but the garage isnt usable because of the tilt. My son told me a chair on wheels would drift downhill, so hes looking for a reasonably priced solution to level it off. Do you have a recommendation? Hes looking for a permanent fix that will not raise the overall flooring height much more than needed because the ceiling is already low. A contractor suggested using high-compression cement. Is that a reasonable suggestion in your experience? I read about leveling compounds, but think 4 inches may be asking too much.

    I.F.

    A. Rather than go with a masonry solution (which could crack in the thin areas), you may want to consider the following: Cut 2-by-4-inch pressure-treated stock on edge into tapered pieces from the widest part down to 0 on the other end. Use them 12 inches on center, then apply a -inch underlayment and, over that, a -inch laminate wood floor. You would lose 1 inch in ceiling height at the high end but have a sturdy, good-looking, and level floor.

    Q. Our house was built in 1808. It has its original chimney stack, three flues, and three hearths. For safety, I want to line the chimney, preferably with flexible steel flue liners. The chimney expert told me that is not possible without making the fireboxes smaller. I do not want to remodel the hearths/fireboxes; they are original to the house. Can you recommend a solution?

    M.S., Vineyard Haven

    A. Working with old chimneys and fireboxes is always a challenge. We used to have a chimney division where I work, and we would never advocate for the installation of a metal liner in a wood-burning fireplace. The two best options are masonry: a cast-in-place chimney lining or a sprayed-in-place relining. The cast-in-place option will probably require you to make a choice and sacrifice one of the fireplaces in order to maintain a large enough flue. The relining process doesnt take up as much room in the existing flues and could work well. There are code issues relating to hearth size, so either way you go, consult several qualified installers.

    Mark Philben is the project development manager atCharlie AllenRenovationsin Cambridge. Send your questions to[emailprotected]. Questions are subject to editing. Subscribe to our free real estate newsletter atpages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.Follow us onFacebook,LinkedIn,Instagram,and Twitter@globehomes.

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    Ask the Remodeler: How to level a garage and convert it - Boston.com

    New Canopy by Hilton Portand captures the essence of Maine – Travel Weekly

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    It's something of a thrill these days to stay at a hotel and eat in a restaurant, even more so when my twin teen daughters want to join. While I wasn't sure if a Maine staycation would capture their interest, they agreed to give the new Canopy by Hilton in Portland a chance. Certainly, the fact that guests get priority seating at Luna, the hotel's popular new harborview, rooftop restaurant, helped seal the deal.

    With its classic brick buildings and cobble streets, active waterfront and celebrated restaurants, Portland's Commercial Street has seen a boom in hotel construction of late, culminating with the Canopy this July. Having visited the first Canopy, opened in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2016, I was curious to see how the latest edition of Hilton's boutique lifestyle brand, the first in New England, would interpret the local experience and culture of my own backyard.

    A City View Guestroom, with Canopy by Hilton's signature Canopy Bed. All bed linens at the hotel are by Cuddledown, and the throw is by Evangeline. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Fathom Companies

    We were happily delighted. My daughters and a friend arrived on a ferry from visiting a nearby island and walked from the dock to the hotel where I was in a work meeting on Zoom. The room design elicited a "wow!" from the teens for the blonde wood floors; signature Canopy beds with local Cuddledown bedding and Evangeline spreads; and sliding barn doors lending privacy to the sizable washroom. While I finished up my workday, the teens made use of the Peloton bikes and weights in the 24-hour workout room down the hall. We then dressed early for dinner and set out to explore the hotel decor orchestrated by Ealain Studios, a Portland-based interior design firm.

    The first floor of the 135-room hotel boasts a well-appointed reception lobby with a lovely moss-lined installation that was created by Plantwerks and Matt Hutton, a local design artist and professor at the Maine College of Art. Add to that, there's 3,000 square feet of event space, a glass-walled library with large conference table and the Salt Yard Cafe + Bar, currently serving breakfast and lunch and eventually dinner, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on bustling Commercial Street.

    Works by Portland artists curated by Erin Hutton Projects include nautical photography by Nicole Wolf in the lobby, custom prints of Jenny McGee Dougherty in conference rooms and a striking ash wood wall installation in the Salt Yard by Karina Steele. Bookshelves are filled with Maine authors, and staff uniforms feature items by L.L.Bean and iconic AngelRox/Sugar clothing designer Roxi Sugar, who has a retail space next door in the historical E. Swasey Pottery building.

    Our status as hotel guests assured us a table for dinner at the Luna Rooftop Bar, even though it's seen long waits for locals and tourists alike since opening. The chic indoor and outdoor spaces feature views of the Portland waterfront; cozy tables and sofas; a menu of small plates, including raw bar items; and cocktails with astronomically themed names like Andromeda and Persephone. The teens gave the creative takes on corn dogs and cheese dip a big thumbs up, and I thoroughly enjoyed a selection of local Maine oysters and a unique peanut butter hummus for dessert. After that, we ventured out to explore the Portland evening on complimentary orange cruiser bikes parked at the hotel entrance.

    The reception and lobby area features a moss-lined installation created by Plantwerks and Matt Hutton, a design artist based in Portland. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Fathom Companies

    In the morning, we breakfasted at Salt Yard Cafe + Bar on a selection of homemade pastries and croissants, fruit bowls and a delicious roasted sweet potato and vegetable hash plus full coffee bar. We would have stayed for lunch, too, but couldn't resist sampling Portland's cornucopia of eateries, including Mami for Japanese street food and ice cream from Gelato Fiasco. Besides, we all agreed we want to return to enjoy Salt Yard and Luna as locals again very soon.

    Nightly rates at the Canopy by Hilton start at $399, including Hilton Honors benefits and discounts. See canopybyhilton.com for details.

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    New Canopy by Hilton Portand captures the essence of Maine - Travel Weekly

    God: now at the mall | Art Review – Chicago Reader

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    It had been almost exactly 30 years since Id seen my favorite gorgon. Id left him where he lived, on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, in the bottom half of Michelangelos The Last Judgment. His name is Charon, and he is charged with herding damned souls across the Styxwith a snarl thats the stuff of nightmares. Charon, a monstrous embodiment of an Old Testament afterlife, has haunted me since I visited the Sistine Chapel in 1991.

    I never imagined the Ferryman and I would next meet in the husk of an abandoned Sears deep in western suburbia. But there he (?), was, horrific as ever, part of an immersive exhibit that allows visitors to see both Michelangelos The Last Judgment and the magnificent frescoes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, all from a vantage point thats nearly impossible to achieve if you visit the art in their Vatican home.

    At the Vatican, you have to elbow and push like a linebacker to get within eyeshot of Charon. In the old Sears, you can see him in all his otherworldly context. Hes one of some 400 characters in the massive painting; some being swept up into heaven and others cast down into Hell. All are depicted in SEE Global Entertainments pragmatically titled Michelangelos Sistine Chapel, an exhibit large enough to fill a big-box store.

    Among abandoned mannequin plinths and forgotten dressing room mirrors, youll find The Last Judgment as well as frescoes from the chapel ceiling transformed into walls of tapestry-sized, high-resolution images. An audio guide provides insight and context to the art. A word about religion: far from pandering to his audience, Michelangelo embedded his paintings with the 16th-century version of Easter eggs. Portraits of those who antagonized him and those he loved can be spotted throughout his art. And while the frescoes show a cinematic visual depiction of various tales of the Old Testament, there are also the sibyls: images of the female divine, oracles from ancient Greece.

    "Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel"Through 8/15: ticketed viewing sessions Wed-Sun, times vary. Oakbrook Center, 2000 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, sistinechapelexhibit.com

    Viewers wandering the cavernous space will encounter a gallery of biblical terrors. (Judith beheading Holofernes is deeply satisfying and The Flood will give you nightmares, especially given recent events in Germany and China.) But there are wonders too: God literally shows His ass in The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants and the Delphic Sibyl originates the art of the side-eye when her oracle reading is interrupted.

    The touring installation (there are other iterations of the show currently on display in San Antonio, Charlottesville, and Charleston) is the brainchild of Martin Biallas, who had a less-than-optimal experience trying to see the Sistine Chapel.

    It was unpleasant, he recalls. Long lines. And once youre finally in after a six-hour wait, youre rushed through. Youre surrounded by 2,000 other people. Theres 50 guards looking at you like if youre even thinking about taking a picture, theyre going to tackle you. And the viewits almost like looking at a stamp, youre so far away.

    He continues, I wanted to make it all more accessible. I wanted this to look like you were walking right under the ceiling.

    Spectacle has captivated Biallas since 1975, when he arrived in the United States from West Germany as a student, just in time for this countrys Bicentennial fever. It was just everywhere, the red, white, and blue, everyone was celebrating, he says of the year positively drenched in showily performative patriotism.

    More than 40 years later, Biallass rsum is littered with outsized endeavors: He created Star TrekThe Tour, a 30th-anniversary international touring exhibition for Paramount; brought Egyptian sacred relics to the world via Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures; and created the Titanic Official Movie Tour, which opened at Wembley Stadium in 1999. Hes got designs on bringing a massive Banksy exhibit to life, and wants to do something with American history, eventually.

    But back to (hello darkness) my old friend Charon. You can practically smell the sulfur as he raises his paddle to smash the skull of any lost soul who might try to escape. Michelangelo painted The Last Judgment between 1535 and 1541; the ceiling came much earlier, with the artist actually living in the scaffolding while he labored over it from 1508 to 1512.

    He was very secretive, kept things covered up, Biallas says before telling an apocryphal story: The Pope tried to get in to see it a few times, and Michelangelo would throw pieces of scaffolding at his head to make him leave.

    Visitors tend to initially gravitate toward the (arguably) most recognizable fresco, Biallas said.

    Of course the first thing people will try to spot is The Creation of Adam, he says of the iconic image of a white-haired, buff, Old Testament God pointing toward Adam, their outstretched fingers sparking the creation of mankind.

    Its a stunning, iconic image, but I was always more fascinated by The Last Judgment, he continues. Its a perfect representation of our constant temptation, the battle between doing good and not. My dad was a Lutheran minister, so I learned a lot about the church and the bible growing up. But the painting was much more personal to me. I thought the message was timeless: so many things are not good for us or our world, yet we do them anyway, he says.

    The Last Judgment is also the only place where Michelangelo put his self-portrait. He was like an early Hitchcock, giving himself this cameo. (You can find the artists self-portrait in the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew.)

    Among the ceiling frescoes, Biallas has his favorites.

    The image of God creating the sun and the planets. Theres one guy who is showing his rear end to everyone in that fresco and thats God. Seriously. Thats a message, he said.

    Biallas is intent on figuring out a U.S. history installation, . . . something that could take people from 1776 to today. Its a concept the Hannover native has been mulling since he experienced Bicentennial fever as an undergrad at the University of Michigan.

    When we were being raised (in Germany), we were raised without that kind of patriotism, because of Hitler and what he did in the name of nationalism. We couldnt really be proud to be a German. So to me, it was fascinating how enthusiastic and devoted U.S. citizens were, he says. When I got my first car here, a Ford, I got a special Bicentennial license plate with it. It made me fall in love with this country.

    As for the gorgon, I pity him more than fear him. Of all the terrible jobs in the world, pushing people into a fiery pit has to be among the most terrible. Ill have to come back in another 30 years to see if he has changed, again.v

    Continued here:
    God: now at the mall | Art Review - Chicago Reader

    Home of the Week: A move-in ready 4-bedroom in heart of Nantucket – Boston.com

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Year built 1960/renovated 2014

    Taxes $3,300 (2021 estimate)

    Sitting on a corner lot in downtown Nantucket (an island and town of the same name), this single-family is encased in cedar shingles, has a driveway and pathways of brick, and grounds graced by hydrangeas, rose of Sharon, and salvia.

    Inside, there is the requisite amount of Nantucket bead board, of course.

    At the entrance, a green door with bulls-eye glass fills the foyer with natural light. To the right, one finds the living area and kitchen seamlessly connected with aqua paint, bead-board wainscoting, and hardwood flooring. No support columns interfere with the progression. The living area has three windows.

    In the kitchen, an island installed perpendicularly provides physical and visual separation from the living area. Topped with granite, the island offers seating for at least six. The raised-panel cabinets are white, the appliances are stainless steel, and the backsplash is a white subway tile. A door opens to the Barnabas Lane side of the house.

    A hallway off the kitchen leads to the dining area and the family room, which are connected with hardwood flooring and a light-aqua paint color. There is no bead-board wainscoting in this space. The dining area sits next to a slider to a cedar deck and underneath a chandelier of shaded lights. The family room (as does much of the house) has recessed lighting augmented by a plethora of windows.

    The full bath is the final stop on this floor. It has a shower with its walls and ceiling clad in subway tile with a sandy-colored grout and a pebblestone floor, as well as a single vanity topped with granite. The flooring in the bath is tile.

    The upper level of the expanded and renovated home contains the owner suite, a full bath, and two bedrooms.

    The owners suite has a drum shade light, hardwood flooring, and three large windows, one of which is nestled into an alcove that can accommodate a desk. One passes a line of closets before entering the en-suite bath, which comes with a wide single vanity. The vanity, floor, and shower are clad in marble, and the space has shiplap wainscoting.

    The larger of the secondary bedrooms comes with a closet behind a pair of bifold doors and two windows, including one in an alcove with a bench. The other bedroom offers a closet behind a single bifold door, a drum shade light, and two windows.

    Nantucket bead-board wainscoting graces the walls of the shared bath. It also has a floating white single vanity topped with marble, a ceramic hexagon tile floor, and a shower clad in subway tile in a brick stack installation.

    The lower level is furnished with pops of blue that remind guests they are by the sea. This level contains the final bedroom, the laundry room, utility space, and a game room large enough for a Ping-Pong table and a gathering spot created by a pair of couches. The space has recessed lighting, shiplap walls, and two windows. The biggest opens into a window well with a ladder. The bedroom is a bunk room with a window that opens into a window well with a ladder.

    Outside the home, there is an enclosed shower.

    The homeowners association comprises three units, according to the owner. The condo featured here covers about half of the shared lot. The other two units, located in a duplex, share 25 percent, and the rest is held in common.

    Nonie Slavitz of William Raveis Nantucket has the listing.

    See more photos of the property below:

    Follow John R. Ellement on Twitter@JREbosglobe.Send listings to[emailprotected].Please note: We do not feature unfurnished homes and will not respond to submissions we wont pursue. Subscribe to our newsletter atpages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.Follow us onFacebook,LinkedIn,Instagram,and Twitter@globehomes.

    View post:
    Home of the Week: A move-in ready 4-bedroom in heart of Nantucket - Boston.com

    There Is an Unseen World Behind Our World: Artist Cai Guo-Qiang on What the Cosmos Can Reveal About Humanity – artnet News

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    Cai Guo-Qiang is no stranger to spectacle.

    The Chinese artist, who is known for his explosive fireworks displays and daring experiments with gunpowder, served as the director of visual and special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His work acrossdrawing, installation, video, and performancehas been variously honored with the Golden Lion at the 1999 Venice Biennale, to the U.S. National Medal of Arts.

    For his latest act, Cai has opened a major exhibition to inaugurate the Museum of Art Pudong (M.A.P.) in Shanghai. Titled Odyssey and Homecoming, the exhibition spans three floors of the Jean Nouvel-designedmuseum, and includes 119 of his signature gunpowder paintings, as well as an overview of his long-running dialogue with Western art history.

    The artist,who has been based in New York since 1995, is also marking his homecoming to Shanghai, where he studied stage design in the 1980s, by debuting his first-ever VR work and a new kinetic light installation about extraterrestrial life.

    We caught up with Cai about his homecoming and his interest in cosmology.

    Cai Gui-Qiang, Color Gunpowder Drawing for City of Flowers in the Sky. Exhibition view at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Mengjia Zhao, courtesy Cai Studio.

    Your exhibition Odyssey and Homecoming opened this month at the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai. Can you tell me about your relationship with the city?

    Shanghai was my first port of departure. I savored the paints of the Shanghai art supplies factory in the early 70s. I left my hometown for the first time in 1978 and stole a ride on the coal train to Shanghai to see aFrench 19th-century rural Landscape paintingexhibition, which was also the first time I saw originals by foreign painters in person. I have a strong memory of this exhibition. It opened the door to drastically different artistic styles for me, which was deeply affecting.

    In the early 80s, I left Quanzhou to study at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. At one point, I felt pity that I was studying stage design rather than studying fine arts the Academy of Fine Arts. I was actually very lucky because at that time, the Academy of Fine Arts was quite conservative. It focused on traditional sketching and plastic-art training, and maintained that artistic training should serve bigger political purposes. On the contrary, the Theatre Academy was more experimental.

    Can you tell us about any mentors you had there who influenced the way you think?

    Zhou Benyi, my teacher in the department of stage design, had a great impact on me. He was the only one in Shanghai who had studied oil painting at the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute. Aside from his solid painting skills, he emphasized the importance of concepts and forms after a trip to the U.S., where he had been invited by the U.S. Information Agency shortly after Chinese economic reform. In a sense, we were his lab rats for educational reform, as he was exploring the path while teaching us. Under his guidance, we turned to contemplating how and why we create. It enlightened me. Using Shakespeares plays as metaphor, the scripted story is always there, but the key is how you interpret it, what you want to say about it, and how to enact it.

    My training at the Theatre Academy also led me to focus on the fluidity of time, multimedia materials, and spatial construction, as well as the spirit of collaborative work. As a result, this experience unintentionally laid a solid foundation for my career as a contemporary artist. Mr. Zhou was always strict with me, and never gave me an easy pass on my proposals. Sometimes he had me redo them five or six times. Later he told me it was because he wanted to see what other surprises and ideas I could offer and what other tricks I could do.

    This pursuit of novelty and innovation motivated me to secretly experiment with gunpowder as an artistic medium while I was still a college student. Shanghai was practically the embodiment of Western culture for methe Bund, the sycamore trees, the Bai Du Bridge, and especially those iconic churches, which are also the subjects of some of my early paintings.

    Cai Guo-Qiang, Transience II (Peony). Exhibition view at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

    The exhibition includes 119 of your gunpowder paintings. How has the way you think about these works changed since you first began making them decades ago?

    Gunpowder has a life of its own. The question has always been: how can I fully present its vitality and the charisma of its spirit? The uncontrollability does not just lie in the material itselfgunpowder brings out the uncontrollable side in me! If I dont lose control, neither will gunpowder.

    As I gain experience manipulating gunpowder, the need for losing control grows stronger. With more experience and better understanding of the material, the fireworks themselves becomes more controllable. Ultimately the gunpowder is there to explode and unleash me, not only to explode the painting surface.

    Exhibition view of A Material Odyssey, a Getty Conservation Institute research exhibition at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

    As part of the exhibition, you have recreated your Individuals Journey Through Western Art History for a Chinese audience. What is different about this audience, and how did you adapt the work?

    I first had the idea of embarking on a journey through Western art history when I was young. Throughout the journey, I let the spirit and creativity of the master artists cultivate my own qi, and in doing so, I tried to confront the difficulties in contemporary painting. I think dialoguing with different chapters of Western art is to pay respect to, and at the same time decentralize the West. When this exhibition tours to China, I believe it in a sense challenges the Sino-centric view, and pursues a kind of liberty and equality, because it advocates for the idea of inheriting all civilizations in mankinds history as our united heritage.

    This exhibition was first held at the Palace Museum last December at the four major galleries of the Meridian Gate. These are works I created along my odyssey, for exhibitions at several museums in the West. Some of these museums used to be palaces or were closely associated with the court culture. When the works made in the context of Western palaces are installed at the Palace Museum, a sense of tension created by the dialogue and contrast between different cultures became apparent.

    The Museum of Art Pudong, a venue created for Modern and contemporary art, is quite a different context for the exhibition. Compared to the Palace Museum, M.A.P. is more suitable for displaying artworks. It has extensive white floors and walls as well as Malevichs Suprematist ceiling. When looking at the art, one tends to think about the artists aesthetic consideration, the methodology behind it, and the choice of materials. Of course, in this white cube, my exhibition, as well as the Tate and the Mir exhibitions are perhaps quite pristine and elitist. Conversely, the new work Encounter with the Unknown created for the X Hall is quite experimental and adventurous.

    Exhibition view of Encounter with the Unknown at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

    Lets talk about that newly commissioned installation, Encounter with the Unknown,whichdraws on images from different stories and myths of humans embracing the cosmos, from Mayan cosmology to Americas obsession with the little green men.What prompted your fascination with the extra-terrestrial?

    As a child, I frequently gazed up at the stars and imagined what lies beyond the starry sky. Moving to Japan in 1986, I soon moved beyond the East-West dichotomy, and observed humankind from the perspective of the cosmos. In 1989, I initiated the series of explosion events Projects for Extraterrestrials. Back then I already believed that there existed extraterrestrials and superpower, and that there is the unseen world behind our world. So I very much hoped these elements could be incorporated in my art, and that my artistic methodology and philosophy would have a spiritual dimension.

    My installation Encounter with the Unknowncontinues the cosmic theme, through which I wish to convey a boys curiosity and sentiments toward the unknown world.

    The work weaves together humanitys desire to defy gravity and embrace the cosmos shared across civilizations. For example, at the very beginning, mankind did not believe that the earth is round. Seeing the sails on the sailboat sink afar, they thought they could blow the sailboat that is large enough off to the sky. Throughout history, some wanted to fly into the sky on birds, and then there was Wanhu, who tied rockets under his chair in an attempt to send himself off into the universe.

    Still for VR work Sleepwalking in the Forbidden City Courtesy Cai Studio.

    You are also using the occasion of the exhibition to debut your first-ever VR work: Sleepwalking in the Forbidden City,in which people can watch one of your daytimefirework shows over the historic landmark.How did you find working with the medium was able to open up your artistic practice?

    I have just begun to experiment with VR. The new technology and its worldview make it possible to create new ways to represent our world and its long history. For example, VRs characteristics of manifesting the surreal and unseen should be amplified in my art, since my art is about using the visible to represent the unseen.

    What also concerns me is how to imbue this high-tech medium with warmth as well as an animalistic energy. Thats why I insisted on making the VR film in the style of myPeasant da Vincis, instead of invoking the kind of virtual, CG aesthetics seen in Hollywood movies.

    I grafted different languages and mediums together, not minding it being raw and contradictory. The conceptual quality born from the collaging and conflicting of different languages, is more important to me as an artist.

    Exhibition view of A Material Odyssey, a Getty Conservation Institute research exhibition at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

    Another new technology has been making waves in the art world this past year: NFTs. You have delved into the field with your Transient Eternity101 Ignitions of Gunpowder Paintings which recently sold for $2.5 million. What do you think about NFTs, and do you see yourself experimenting with them further?

    These 101 ignition moments from the pieces I created during my Individuals Journey Through Western Art History always exist as an integral part of the gunpowder paintings. NFT technology makes it possible to own and collect these moments, which are transformed as transient eternity.

    The project asks what defines an artists work and what is an art project. It reflects on the questions surrounding the transience and eternity of the digital age embodied by NFTs, and the core concept of how value is stored. In the age of pandemic and post-pandemic, through this project, I also reflect on the weight of transient existence in the eternal river of time.

    I already have a number of ideas for NFTs. I think my next NFT projects ought to be more adventurous than what have been achieved so far. Is it possible to create an art project with a more forward-looking vision, and with more compelling forms and concepts, by leveraging the core values unique to NFT technology?

    Cai Guo-Qiang: Odyssey and Homecoming is on view through March 7, 2022, at the Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai.

    Originally posted here:
    There Is an Unseen World Behind Our World: Artist Cai Guo-Qiang on What the Cosmos Can Reveal About Humanity - artnet News

    ‘The MS Teams Rooms system that will start a revolution’ – AV Magazine

    - August 11, 2021 by Mr HomeBuilder

    The news is spreading quickly through the AV/UC industry. Two industry heavyweights, Shure andCrestron,have achieved something that many supposed industry insiders recently thought was very unlikely.So what has happened and is it really a revolution in AV systems integration?

    Microsoft has certified the first MS Teams Room System in which the audio DSP is not connected to the soft codec as external hardware via USB, but instead runs directly on the UC PC as software.

    This innovation is rightly celebrated extensively by both partners. See hereandhere. The combination is indeed special, as it is the first AV system from two independent manufacturers without any internal cabling.

    Toms Blog, which I value, provides the most important information in a blog post, without going into the background. A joint video from Shure and Crestron also provides marketing information but doesnt quite capture the full impact for the industry as a whole.

    Is there really much more to it?Why am I talking about a revolution for AV systems integration? In my opinion, what impact can, and in fact, will this announcement have on meeting room AV technology? In the following article, I would like to give you an overview of the reasons why this single solution from two important companies has what it takes to fundamentally change our business.

    AV installations are a PC-free zoneWhile practically all other areas of the professional audio/video industry have long relied on PC technology instead of proprietary hardware, AV installation was and is apparently a Gallic village. This is strange insofar as the requirements in the vast majority of audio installations have long been met by normal PC technology.

    In therecording studio, its been almost 10 years sinceAvid Pro Tools & Co almost invariably runs natively on PC and Mac. This means no special hardware in the form of DSP farms is required the CPUs from Intel and AMD carry out all the calculations themselves. Ideally, a GPU also helps as a powerful arithmetic servant. The providers can see how the PC world offers more powerful hardware from year to year.

    Even inlive operations, the days of heavy side racks with countless effects devices are long gone. Either the effects are built into the mixer (see for example Allen & Heath) or a small notebook with suitable Waves softwaredelivers every imaginable audio effect.

    The same trend can be seen in video editingandpost-processingthanks to solutions such as Blackmagic DesignsDaVinci Resolve.

    Even live productionsare increasinglybeing realised with native PC software solutions such asVMIX.

    And in the meeting room? There has been a strict separation to this day. On the one side proprietary audio DSPs and on the other the UC engines, i.e. PCs or Macs that run a soft codec for conferencing. The connection in between is a USB cable, which despite being chosen is an interface that isnt really popular on one side or the other.

    PCs are well hidden in a 19 rackBut are there really no PCs in fixed audio installations? Of course there are; but they are very well hidden! Of course, AV manufacturers cannot ignore the economic viability of PC technology but you could almost believe that they want to keep it a secret. Instead of proclaiming a revolution for AV system integration with the new possibilities, innovations only trickle into products gradually.

    Example 1:One of the most successful suppliers of audio DSPs is undoubtedly QSC. Its Q-SYS productsare flawless mini-PCs with Linux and node.js as central software components.In the case of the largeQ-SYS 5200 Core, it is even publicly made clear that it is a completely normalDELL R740server.

    An essential point, however, is that the customer cannot install the respective DSP software on his own server. This is exactly what QSC had already taken to market in 2017 (see here https://www.qsc.com/news/news/detail/qsc-provides-glimpse-into-the-future-of-audio-video-and-control-processing -at-ise-amsterdam) and unfortunately did not quite succeed with. Opinions differ as to why this was but it may be that the time wasnt right then.

    Example 2:With the IntelliMix P300 Audio Conferencing Processor, Shure offers a small but powerful audio DSP. This is particularly popular in the UC environment: docked to UC engines with Zoom or MS Teams via USB interface, with smart table and ceiling microphones integrated via Dante on the audio side and all operated via PoE+.

    However, the P300 is basically a mini PC. It was in 2020 that Shure took the decisive step and separated the software from the hardware.

    Voil, welcome to Shure IntelliMix Roomfor Windows.

    Intellimix Room runs on any 64-bit Windows system with very modest minimum requirements:

    As you can hear from the industry, the success of this software product to date is still manageable. AV integrators are still too caught up in a box shifting mentality but Shure didnt give in that easily and has now found a real killer application.

    The revolution for AV system integration: the audio DSP migrates to the UC engineAs is well known, room clients from Zoom and MS Teams run on conventional PC technology. The term soft codec makes it clear that it is a software solution compared to video conference devices with proprietary hardware and software combinations.

    And this is exactly where the circle closes. If both software packages are already running on a single PC, why not run both on the same PC together? Of course, it has to be powerful enough, but that is really no longer a problem these days.

    You really have to congratulate the partners, Shure and Crestron, for convincing Microsoft of the good sense of such a solution. It was certainly not that easy, as there are still no (public) test criteria for such a combination. Logically, all interfacing problems in terms of AEC are off the table in one fell swoop. Bravo!

    Whats next? The outlook for really deeply integrated systemsIs that enough to start a revolution in AV systems integration? Will other providers follow suit and also offer soft DSPs? Quite possibly and it is certainly desirable in terms of a wider range. But I would go one step further (or are there several steps?). Imagine the following scenarios:

    1. UC clients on their own audio hardwareWhy not turn the tables and use the Teams/Zoom/etc install client on an audio product? Why not run Zoom Rooms natively on a QSC Q-SYS Core? The blinkers of the platform providers probably do not yet allow such a way of thinking, but it would certainly be an absolutely sensible solution. Instead of converting a mini PC to an audio installation, current AV devices already meet all requirements in terms of design, sales channel, support structures and the like.

    2. Massive expansion of the functionality of audio DSPsThis has already been mentioned several times on my own blog. The gap between the performance of traditional audio DSPs in our industry and the cloud-driven algorithms of software providers (seehere) is constantly widening. When the two worlds meet on the same hardware, there are suddenly enormous synergies and an unprecedented price/performance ratio for the customer.

    3. The same applies to videoIf, thanks to theDANTE Virtual Sound Card, audio suddenly goes in and out of a UC engine via the LAN, the same is possible for video. NDI is a perfect solution for this. And such networking is a condition for the following point.

    4. Conference hostingInstead of having your own small PC with the appropriate software in each meeting room, this will be centralised in the future. What Crestron does in the world of media control withCrestron Virtual Control VC-4, for example, can also work in conferencing. Microphones, cameras and even loudspeakers that are remote but on the network allow conferencing hardware to be moved to a (local) datacentre. Just think of the effects this has on customer groups such as universities when the rollout of collaboration technology in every lecture hall suddenly becomes very easy!

    SummaryWhat Crestron and Shure have just announced in terms of MS Teams Rooms is definitely a milestone in the AV world:

    But instead because it opens up the hitherto rather isolated market of AV installation for new providers:

    All of these developments require a solid foundation of advice and planning and I am available for inquiries and comments.

    Harald Steindl is a consultant based in Austria. This article first appeared on the HST Raising the Bar blog as A revolution in AV systems integration here.

    More here:
    'The MS Teams Rooms system that will start a revolution' - AV Magazine

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