UH West Oahu Installs New Digital Wall, Theater

HONOLULU — Students at the University of Hawaii – West Oahu (UH West Oahu) in Honolulu now get the opportunity to learn and showcase their work in an entirely new way. The university’s Academy for Creative Media installed the largest Organic Light Emitting Diodes wallpaper display in the state in collaboration with Jason Leigh, the director of the Laboratory for Advanced Visualization and Applications (LAVA).

The screen features 15, high-resolution LG Electronics screens joined together to form a 135-square-foot screen that can feature multiple videos and images concurrently. It stands in a 1,040-foot area within the UH West Oahu Library, which will be transformed into a 40-person theater by the end of the year, according to the university newsletter. The project will include blacking out ceiling tiles, walls and windows in the area, and the installation of a sliding, retractable acoustical wall will keep the theater separate from the rest of the library.

“Because of the thinness of the technology it is the first time displays are becoming like wallpaper. This will usher in a future where all walls can be covered with information and art effortlessly and seamlessly,” Leigh told the university newsletter. “When used as a collaboration tool it could bridge distance creating the illusion that a remote location is literally right next door.”

The new screen allows for the university’s film and media departments to expand their curriculums, giving students the opportunity to view and study archival footage differently. Heather Giugni, a cultural collections specialist and producer at the university, noted that the Diamond Head Crater Festivals were filmed with two cameras, so the videos can be displayed at the same time, per the university newsletter.

As the second CyberCANOE (Collaborative Analytics Navigation and Observation Environment) site on the UH West Oahu campus, the screen can also be used for remote collaboration, content sharing and other digital interactions. The screen project was co-funded by a $600,000 award from the National Science Foundation.