ExhibitOne Milestone Project Opens With Praises from Sandra Day O'Connor
During the April, 2010 dedication of the new municipal court building in Mesa, Arizona, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor praised the facility as being a model of court efficiency and technology. O'Connor said, "I think all of us in Arizona should be extremely proud of what you have accomplished with this building."
 When first started in the fall of 2008, the $37 million, 100,000 square foot municipal courthouse represented ExhibitOne's 1,000th audio/visual system design and integration project - a project that was valued at approximately $1 million.
The three-story building houses eight courtrooms and is designed to accommodate two additional courtrooms when needed. Last year, the courthouse which was replaced by the new facility, saw nearly 300,000 people pass through its doors. |
When it comes to 3D, all of the buzz seems to surround what's coming out in theaters, from our TVs and the capabilities offered by a select
few computers.
But what about the "big" picture - literally - as in 3D for digital signage, public messaging etc.?
Industry research firm DisplaySearch sees a growing market for what it describes as 3D displays "intended to be used in out-of-home, public environments by more than one individual simultaneously."
Now, you can be forgiven if you weren't aware that this market existed. After all, in all of last year there were only 10,000 such 3D implementations on a global basis. But that won't be the case by 2018 when DisplaySearch predicts the number of implementations will grow to 1.2 million - making 3D public displays a $1 billion market.
The driving technologies behind the public displays are expected to be autostereoscopic displays followed by holographic/volumetric displays. Plasma screens are expected to be a part of the solutions nearly 25 percent of the time. |
Historically, the legal community isn't thought of as a technology-savvy group. People usually evoke images of attorneys poring over stacks of books and papers, without an AV device in sight. However, modern day practitioners of law have adopted AV technologies like videoconferencing, document cameras, and digital video systems to serve their diverse and dynamic needs.
The General Services Administration (GSA) estimated in 2006 that there are approximately 2,158 federal courtrooms in the United States. That number doesn't reflect the thousands of state and district courts that also rely on modern AV technology for their proceedings, nor does it reflect the thousands of judges, attorneys, and support staff who rely on AV everyday to do their job around the world.
Despite the economy, courthouse budgets have remained strong for several reasons. First, the funding cycle is longer than other markets like corporate or houses of worship. Second, some states like California set aside funds for projects like courthouse construction and renovation that are protected regardless of the health of the overall state budget.
Courtroom AV designers and system integrators who service the legal community, and courthouses specifically, are specializing in a niche market. "Because of the things that happen in the courtroom, you must have an understanding about how the judicial process works," says Kevin Sandler, CEO and president of ExhibitOne Corporation, a firm that specializes in courtroom AV technology. "The courtroom participants like technology with strong demonstrative capabilities. AV can be crippling to a courtroom if not done properly." READ MORE |
