The Conference Center at the Bently Reserve is a mix of modern technology and classical design. As their Art & Technology Director, I was priviledged with directing the green restoration of the building to the period design, as well as integrating the latest technology inside the rooms for potential clients.

Keeping in-line with that philosophy, all of the Conference Center rooms now include iPads as their room controllers. Unfortunately the standard interface for AMX is not designer inspired, and the above design is my custom reworking of this interface. The interface controls: Lutron Lights, room shades, multiple projectors, multiple screens, blu-ray players, and video conferencing. Aside from using direct, simple directions to solve basic tasks, my redesign attempted to cure three outstanding issues; allowing non-technical users to easily control the room (whether clients or our staff to avoid excess manpower), easily identify tasks, and easily identify which part of the room you’d like to control.

To solve the last issue I made a custom, bird’s-eye view, illustration of the room, as well as installed sensors to detect location of plugged in devices. Users can select the projector or screen on their subsequent side, and a graphical representation of the projector or screen on that side will show accordingly. If you plug in your computer to a specific side, it will intelligently know you’re interested in projecting from your computer.

For the first time, our staff is no longer afraid to manage equipment without IT support, and clients are comfortable managing their room without hiring IT support. The clean directions and simple focus are both a financial and aesthetic win.

AMX Integration was tasked by the excellent & professional staff at Jetson Systems.