Mall for the New Millennium

Another attraction has been added to the long list of theme parksand tourist havens in Orlando, Fla. The Mall at Millenia, a 1.2 millionsquare foot shopping center, features unique architectural details suchas a floor composed of fossilized tiles dating from 250 million yearsago and an 80ft. stream in the water garden. The pièce derésistance, however, comes in the form of an updated and digitizedStonehenge, located in the eight-story Grand Court. As an homage to theancient English icon, 12 35ft.-high masts were each topped withspecially designed, curved LED video displays. Original graphics,images, and live video add to the visual experience.

Daktronics, the Brookings, S.D.-based supplier of integratedelectronic display systems, designed, manufactured, and installed theLED ProStar VideoPlus full-color LED display system. “The biggestchallenge in creating the curved cabinet was keeping the curve andshape of the cabinet uniform because the manufacture required weldingaluminum,” says Nate Nearman, lead mechanical design engineer.All 12 displays can be controlled individually or simultaneously from acontrol room in the mall.

KeyFrame (Tampa, Fla.), a division of Daktroniks, schedules andprograms each video sequence and relays the images to the displaysthrough fiber optic cable using Daktronics' proprietary Venus 7000display controller and V-Play digital audio/video server. A T1 linebrings the images to the control room so shoppers can watch live feedsfrom designer fashion events in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Thecontent includes highlights of particular seasons or series ofevents.

“Given Orlando's reputation as a destination with world-classattractions, we knew we had to raise the bar in our own industry tomeet expectations of local residents and visitors,” says NathanForbes, partner of The Forbes Company and managing partner at The Mallat Millenia.