News

XL Events - Busts Cybercrime at Westfield

Posted on 18/04/2011

XL Events supplied and installed a 3 metre diameter PufferSphere 360 degree dynamic projection system and Hippotizer media server for the launch of the new Norton Cybercrime Index (CCI) software - at the Westfield London shopping centre.

XL was working for communications agency Agent X alongside Circle agency. A simultaneous event for end client Symantec was staged at Grand Central Station in New York City.

Richard Pow was XL Events' project manager. He worked with 2 crew on an overnight get in, which saw the PufferSphere rigged onto a bespoke ground support trussing system designed by Agent X, supplied and coordinated through XL's Rich Pow. The erection of this and the overhead rigging required was overseen by Mark Oakley from Outback Rigging.

The trussing – consisting of an 9.685 metre high crossed 4-leg system - was dressed in black for a smart, neat, stylish finish and positioned in the main atrium of Westfield, with the PufferSphere rigged in the centre directly below the top cross-members.

The structure set ups in New York and London were identical, and at Westfield London, a key requirement was that it was clearly visible from all 3 floors of the retail complex.

It was the first time that XL had worked with Agent X, who approached them particularly impressed with their work on the U2 360 tour, and because they had already decided they wanted to use a PufferSphere - of which XL has a large stock. They also sought a company that could co-ordinate supply of the structure as well as take care of the specialist projection.

Apart from their excellent contacts with fabrication and rigging companies, XL's team also has the advantage of a good working knowledge of the Westfield building.

In addition to the actual ground support, a special cage had to be designed and built to house the Christie 20K HD projector which gave the continuous ultra-clean look that the client required. This was rigged on to four points around the centre of the structure.

The first task once on site for the event was to black out a section of the atrium roof to enhance the projections, to try and block out as much daylight as possible due to Westfield London’s glass roof, this was supplied & installed by the Westfield in house team .

Agent X supplied custom video content and graphics for the CCI launch which was loaded into the Hippotizer media server, programmed, and then projected around the sphere. The overall event started with a 2 day count-down, followed by the product 'going live' for which a pod and 4 screens on a stage below were installed - all supplied by the client.

After this, for the remainder of the week, the projection system stayed up and running, showing a feed streamed from Symantec's website, fed through the Hippo and onto the sphere.

Says Rich Pow, "It was an interesting and different project that had to be rigged overnight and required a lot of precision beforehand to make sure we got it spot-on first time and had the necessary impact. The end results looked really excellent and we all enjoyed the challenges".

The Cybercrime Index is a free tool, available to everyone, which measures and warns people about real-time cybercrime happening worldwide. The Cybercrime Index's number changes daily to reflect the moving trend in cybercrime activity and the threat posed to people online, also providing advice for how to keep safe.