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Sir John Monash Centre

NEC forms the immersive engine at the heart of the Sir John Monash Centre

Located on the site of the Australian National Memorial and adjacent to the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery on the Somme, the Sir John Monash Centre was commissioned by the Australian Government. It is one of the key sites on the Australian Memorial Trail which follows the Western Front of the First World War, tracing the Australian Army's engagement with Commonwealth troops.

The Centre was inaugurated on 24 April 2018, on the centenary of the first day of the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, and on the eve of the centenary of Anzac Day, the day on which Australia and New Zealand pay tribute to their soldiers who fought in the ranks of the British Empire between 1914 and 1918.

The challenge

The aim was to present to the public, through a multimedia centre, the experience of the Australian soldiers, through letters, diaries and realistic images, and to discover the places where they had fought and where some of them had perished. The Australian government wanted to focus on personal stories, to stimulate the emotions of visitors, while at the same time allowing them to understand.

This approach involved implementing a series of interactive multimedia installations, linked to the centre's application downloaded to each visitor's smartphone, to provide the most immersive experience possible.

The Australian Government engaged the services of French and Australian companies and consultants, as well as a team of historians to work on the design, content and construction of the centre.

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The others are implemented to create walls of 6 or 12 screens.

The specifications defined for this project demanded multiple performance criteria: display quality, precision of colour settings, ultra-thin chassis, low heat emission, multiple installation capabilities – portrait/landscape, tilt, upside down mode; but also short lead times, an after-sales service with proven efficiency and a minimum two-year guarantee.

Following an extensive evaluation and testing process, Orpheo, the integrator participating in the tender with NEC LFD screens was selected following the recommendations of the Australian scenographer [Convergence Associates].

The NEC Solution

In total, more than 400 NEC LCDs have been installed at the heart of the system, including 372 46-inch X464UNS-2 ultra-narrow bezel displays. Of these, 186 are placed side-by-side in the immersive gallery, making the Sir John Monash Centre one of the first museums in the world to offer a display exceeding one billion pixels. 

The final installation includes 50 55'' X554UNS-2 ultra-narrow bezel displays (3.5 mm) ; 25 are deployed beneath a glass floor in front of the other 25 in a wall configuration..

Finally, a dozen 84-inch X841UHD-2 UHD screens are deployed throughout the centre in various configurations, for welcoming visitors or presenting extraordinary figures in portrait mode, or for interactive use in landscape mode.

 

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Result

The multi-dimensional system was implemented in close collaboration with the centre's technical and operations director and his team. The equipment communicates with each other in real time, and each visiting device is geolocalised and detected in front of each screen for personalised video playback.

One year on

One year after its inauguration, the Sir John Monash Centre had welcomed more than 55,000 visitors and 3,000 students from many different countries.

Closed for several weeks in the spring of 2020 due to containment, the centre reopened its doors on 9 June in compliance with health regulations. Admission is of course still free of charge.

Operational as soon as it opened thanks to the successful implementation of this technology, the centre has received many very positive comments and is now the subject of many recommendations on the sites and social networks most consulted by tourists.

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