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Videlio and APG’s immersive audio boosts retail experience at Europe’s largest shopping mall

APG’s iX series speakers and Active Audio column speakers are at the heart of Videlio’s major AV overhaul at the Westfield Les 4 Temps shopping centre in Paris. Located in La Défense, the business district to the west of the French capital, and boasting more than 200 shops, 40 restaurants and a 16-screen cinema, Westfield Les 4 Temps is Europe’s largest shopping centre.

The audio upgrade, undertaken by Paris-based AV specialist Videlio, was designed to immerse Westfield Les 4 Temps visitors in the environment by making audio an integral part of their shopping experience. Stéphane Le Roux, head of digital media for Videlio’s specialist complex-projects division, Videlio-Scénotechnique, has been working with Westfield Les 4 Temps owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield for ten years, overseeing maintenance of its existing AV systems and advising on future upgrades.

He explains that Westfield Les 4 Temps’ owners were converted to the experiential possibilities of spatial audio after Videlio demoed Tadamm, an “immersive experience box” showcasing the possibilities of immersive audio and video solutions. “As a technological partner of Tadamm, we invited Westfield to witness the added value of an immersive sound system complementing the video system originally planned for this project”, says Le Roux. “We demonstrated how the visual component’s impact on the LED screens coupled with the sound system could significantly improve visitors’ attention grabbing, preventing them from looking at their phones on escalators or during down time and instead engaging with the content.”

Having already been commissioned by Westfield to integrate “Digital Dream” - a series of three curved LED screens which, with a total surface area of 250 m², are billed as the largest interactive indoor video display in Europe - at Les 4 Temps, Videlio turned to APG for the immersive audio component, entrusting the French manufacturer with delivering an impactful soundscape that would grab the attention of busy shoppers.

The design of both the Digital Dream display and the immersive audio system were overseen by creative agency Tetro, which commissioned Acoustique & Conseil (AC) to consult on the latter aspect of the project. AC’s recommendations were that any new audio system should be able to offer clear, intelligible sound at a consistent volume within a defined area around the LED wall, as well as create an immersive, spatialised audio environment.

The decision to specify APG loudspeakers was, says Le Roux, driven by four factors: its technological expertise, the strength of its bid, the fact its products are designed and manufactured in France, and the support the company offers its integration partners. “Beyond the solution itself, we needed a high level of service and support, particularly for the acoustic study of the site - advertisements run hundreds of times a day, so they must not become disruptive for staff and retailers”, says Le Roux. “There was thorough consultation before and during the project.”

To create the desired immersive audio environment, Videlio integrated a 12-channel audio system comprising 28 iX5, APG’s compact indoor coaxial loudspeaker, distributed across the two convex LED screens that loop around Les 4 Temps’ first- and second-floor balconies for even, object-based immersive sound coverage. Elsewhere, R210TC column speakers by APG’s sister company Active Audio, are strategically positioned on either side of the main Digital Dream display (a curved, totem-shaped central screen).

Reflecting on the successful integration of Westfield Les 4 Temp’s first immersive audio system - which is, according to Perceval de Saint-Seine, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s senior media manager for Europe, already being utilised with “spectacular” results by advertisers such as Coca-Cola - Videlio’s Le Roux is proud to have partnered with APG to deliver a world first in Paris: “The largest and most innovative retail LED wall in Europe - and the only one integrating immersive, 3D, interactive audio.”

(Photos: Westfield Rise)

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