University of Bath - 8 West Teaching Room Upgrades

AV featured

TK-Team WriteView system

Sharp displays

Extron control

Extron speakers

Extron amps & DSP

Huddly Canvas

Lumens PTZs

Sennheiser mics

Beetronics monitors

​​​​​​​Audio visual case study​​​​​​​

The University of Bath appointed GVAV to carry out a full AV upgrade across 19 teaching spaces in its 8 West Building. These rooms were functional but dated, with old projection systems in place with retractable screens. The University wanted a consistent standard across the building that would support both traditional and technology-led teaching without compromising either.

University of Bath audio visual

Central to the new solution is a flexible whiteboard system from TK-Team. WriteView is a wall-mounted sliding whiteboard solution that enables multiple writing surfaces to coexist with digital display technology. The lightweight boards glide along a horizontal track, allowing the lecturer to write across a generous surface, with the option to slide the boards aside to reveal the screen behind, maximising the usable surface area within the room.

13 rooms use a WriteView Curtain System, with a top pelmet concealing the track and a combination of gliding and fixed boards. 6 rooms use the standard WriteView configuration. In both cases, the boards glide over the screen to conceal it, expanding the writing area as required to allow lecturers to move seamlessly between handwritten and digital content without interrupting the flow of teaching. The rooms’ displays are Sharp M-Series screens, delivering bright, 4K visuals that are clear for everybody in the room.

To do

Mounted above the whiteboard in each room, a Huddly Canvas camera captures the written content on the whiteboard in real time, reproducing the image and removing the arm of the person writing so the view is never obscured. The camera feeds into the lecture capture system for the benefit of those not in the room, as well as supporting accessibility by making content easier to follow for students who are visually impaired.

At the rear of each room, a Lumens VC-TR40W PTZ camera handles lecture capture and provides a wide view of the teaching space. It includes speaker tracking, following the lecturer automatically, and can be controlled directly from the Extron TLP Pro 725 touchpanel on the lectern. A live camera preview is displayed on a small Beetronics monitor built into the lectern's control panel, so the lecturer can see exactly what's being captured without looking away from the room.

Lumens PTZ camera, University of Bath

All room controls are processed and managed by the Extron IPCP Pro 250 xi control processor, while audio is handled via Extron DMP 64 Plus C DSP, XPA 1002 amplifiers and SM26 speakers, keeping speech clear for capture and in-room reinforcement.

Two of the spaces required a more comprehensive audio setup. These rooms are equipped with Extron FF 220T ceiling speakers and Sennheiser SL wireless handheld and lavalier microphone systems, with the more capable Extron DMP 128 Plus C handling audio processing and distribution.

To do

Two of the spaces required a more comprehensive audio setup. These rooms are equipped with Extron FF 220T ceiling speakers and Sennheiser SL wireless handheld and lavalier microphone systems, with the more capable Extron DMP 128 Plus C handling audio processing and distribution.

Following these upgrades by GVAV, the 8 West Building now has a consistent set of teaching rooms that don't require lecturers to change how they teach, whether they want to use the whiteboard or the digital display. The system has been designed so the technology sits quietly in the background until it's needed.

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“GVAV have provided excellent service throughout this project. From initial consultation through to completion, the support, planning and communication have been great.

At the initial site survey, following on from our specification, excellent suggestions were made for the technology we could look to use. Several of which made it into the implemented solution.

The university brief was clear: We were keen to provide excellent whiteboard capture to feed into the lecture capture system, which would provide an improved experience for those unable to attend lectures. Audio capture should be hands-free, and the end-user’s experience should be that they could just start up the system and use it.

After agreeing systems and designs, we scheduled a rolling pattern of dates for installation. Technical project management was excellent; work patterns were adjusted and changed to suit the diverse needs of the spaces, and there was great versatility in arranging the work around existing room bookings. Co-ordination with TK-Team was smooth and the work was completed in good time, giving us opportunity to commission the systems prior to the resumption of teaching in the rooms.

The standard of workmanship was very good, and the installation teams were punctual, hard-working and tidy. Everyone involved was clearly well-versed in the intricacies of working in a university environment.

Particularly, the output from the Huddly whiteboard cameras has been clear, and commentary about their ability to make people “disappear” has been noted. The rolling board systems have added an extra dimension in maximising the writing real estate on the presentation wall without compromising the display standards.

Since completing the installation, the feedback from the academic community has been strong: There is a clear liking for the new standard we have created. Users can capture everything that happens in the room, without the need to adjust the system, or the need to remember to press a button to make something happen. We have been asked to create more venues that have this ability in future.

We have been very pleased with service and support given by GVAV in delivering this project​​​​​​​.”

Mark Wakefield

Support Manager (Learning and Events Technology), University of Bath

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