Powersoft provides MAS sensory experience

MAS (Museum aan de Strom), a new museum based in Antwerp, Belgium, has recently sought the services of Italian pro audio manufacturer Powersoft in order to create an innovative sensory experience in the form of a ‘Wake Up’ room.

The new museum is a 62-metre, ten-story sandstone and glass tower located in the old dockside area of the region, which is made up of ten large stone “boxes” stacked on top of each other at a 90 degrees angle, therefore creating a vertical gallery consisting of a spiral staircase whereby the exhibitions are interspersed with undulated glass walls, revealing expansive views of the city.

In contrast to the industrial look from the outside, the museum offers a unique experience inside, with four individual themes divided across five floors, through which visitors are taken on a multimedia journey via concealed soundscapes, LCD displays and touch screen PCs.

“The idea was to create a ‘Wake Up’ room on every floor – a room where the visitor can feel, hear and see the central theme of that particular floor,” explained Stephanie Simons, production leader for the museum.

Belgian AV system integrator AV Studio was responsible for the design and installation of the cutting-edge arrangement. They in turn commissioned professional AV distributor FACE to supply the high-end equipment.

During this journey, Powersoft “walks” visitors through the central theme of each floor. On the fourth floor with the central theme ‘Power’, M Series amplifiers with DSP, both two and four channels, contribute to the room’s atmosphere.

The journey continues all the way up to the seventh floor, where a number of sound effects contribute to the “Life & Death!” theme. Here K Series amplifiers with built-in DSP drive the surround sound that fills the ‘Wake Up’ room.

Due to the complexity of the system, and with each theme having different audio requirements, AV Studio and FACE looked to Powersoft for the products to make this experimental installation happen.

“Powersoft proved to be up to the challenging task. Their wide range of amplifiers was perfect to meet all system requirements,” commented Steven Kemland, sales manager at FACE. “Moreover, Powersoft environmental-friendly amps will help the client reducing operational costs on both consumption and external cooling.”