The Death of Television and the Birth of the Digital Canvas - Ideaworks
Longstanding LPF member Ideaworks, have shared their forward-thinking perspective on how luxury spaces are evolving in response to the decline of traditional television. In this thought-provoking exclusive LPF Insider article, they explore the rise of immersive digital canvases—transforming walls into dynamic storytelling surfaces that redefine how we experience content, art, and space in high-end homes and yachts.
Image source: Ventana
Over the last 15 years, how we have grown used to consuming content has changed dramatically.
The main milestones have been when the TV transformed from a big box to a flat panel, freeing room placement and unleashing screen sizes.
Then, the content moved from an aerial on the roof to the internet….and from the TV to a handheld device. Our love of traditional TV viewing has waned. We can now see what we want when we want and on the device we want. We consume so much content that content creators can't keep up.
This trend is seen in Luxury Residential projects. Where once upon a time, a TV was to be seen in every room, the proliferation of TVs has reduced it to just a few key rooms where the viewing experience is optimal. Bathroom TVs are as fashionable as the avocado bathroom suite of the 1970s.
Image source: Ventana
Technology hasn’t stood still. While the TV has reached a maximum practical size of around 100”, newer video tiles have emerged with dimensions resembling a ceramic tile at just 15mm thick. While this enables bigger and bigger screens to be created, viewing standard TV programming in giant size isn’t enhanced. Nobody needs a two-metre high head reading them the news.
Increasing size has unleashed an interest in creating “living wallpaper.” This digital surface stretches from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, navigating around physical architecture. It can mimic the other surfaces in the room but can also transform, in an instant, into a digital window on the world, a digital canvas to display art—art that can move and react. Blends of real and unreal imagery can transform spaces from dead to live.
Image source: Ventana
As interest grows worldwide in these digital experiences, Clients are becoming open to how they can be incorporated into spaces in their homes and yachts. Today, the wall can be marble; tomorrow, it will be a wooden panelled library and then transform into a forest of dappled light by detecting movement and sound.
Public experiences like the Outernet and Frameless in London, the Sphere in Las Vegas, and the multitude of digital experiences opening daily worldwide are just the beginning of this art form. As more consumers buy brands rather than products, high streets are transforming from shops selling products into digital experiences selling brands.
Image source: Ventana
One wall is only the start. Wrapping more walls brings ever more immersion in the experience. Why give a room over to be just a Breakfast room or a Cinema when you can create a room that can be anything? A library, a desert, an underwater cavern, a forest or a space to escape.
Whenever we discuss these with Clients, we start with content; the technology is just the transport mechanism. We have built an incredible portfolio of highly skilled digital artisans who can inspire and create content. Digital walls can be programmed to reflect the time of day and the number of people using the space and to take data feeds from the Client's business or the weather in their favoured country. Most Clients will build a library of favoured content, a selection of their favourite artists and some generative pieces that constantly re-invent what you see.
Image source: Ventana
The supporting technology is expensive now, just as the first flat-screen TVs were. At the luxury end of the market, wallpaper, stones, and other wall coverings are typically selected from the more exclusive end of the price spectrum, with a surface that can be anything and appear to be of good value.
Display technology will continue to improve, and demand for more engaging spaces will grow. Meanwhile, AI will become ever more able to summon imaginary worlds on demand. This trend will clearly continue to build momentum.
Meanwhile, if you have a project or Client with whom you would like to discuss the options, we can show you this kind of technology at the Ideaworks Experience Centre, using the skills of various artists and content makers.
We love opportunities to be creative, so don't hesitate to contact us at info@ideaworks.co.uk if you want to collaborate.
About IDEAWORKS
Ideaworks has long been an advocate for delivering outstanding results through collaboration.
Our focus is on providing our clients with an unrivalled user experience through the creative application of technology. We work closely with design and construction teams to ensure that the lighting, AV, IT, window shading and control systems we design enhance the interior and architectural designs.