You have to wonder where all the great ideas come from that drive business. A
sudden flash of brilliance in a single pondering mind? A whole team of white-coat
research and development personnel labouring over complex solutions? A lucky
tinkerer? While I’m sure that at some point all of these have come to pass, there are
indeed dedicated and business-sponsored “nests’ that establish fertile ground for
young, intelligent and eager minds to develop their ideas into tangible solutions. This
is the Innovation Factory.

The Innovation Factory was borne out of a partnership between T-Systems and
Maxum Business Incubator, located in the heart of business solutions central in
Pretoria, The Innovation Hub; also collaborators in the project. Modelled after the T-
Systems Innovation Centre in Munich, Germany, the 200m2 facility features three
distinct zones: a “hot desking’ area that can accommodate up to 20 people; a
collaboration space where ideas can be brainstormed, designed and crafted; and a
fully equipped boardroom (called the demonstration room) with a plethora of audio
visual devices for formally presenting ideas and solutions.

Of course, in order to harvest the fruit of percolating young and brilliant minds, the
workflow needs to be unrestrictive and the processes in place, including the
technology, have to be easy to use, efficient and effective. Local technology experts
Lowther Communications, inventors of the 2013 Technology Top 100 Emerging
Enterprise qualifier, the Lowther WING, were called upon to install all the necessary
technologies to form a solution suited to real-world, “proof of concept’ and test
systems applications.

T-Systems manager of the Innovation Factory Morne Meintjes says the brief was to
“provide an innovative AV solution that is scalable, reliable and can make use of
existing mobile technologies like Smart phones and tablet devices (all three major
OSs) for control and display purposes.’

“We wanted a wireless display solution as well as electronic whiteboard facilities,’
adds Meintjes.
When deciding on a technology partner for the installation at the Innovation Factory
there were a few important points that needed to be addressed. First, the
technologies employed had to consist of reliable and proven solutions that could
facilitate multiple displays and inputs. Then, installation and training expertise were
paramount, as was on-going product support. Finally, the installation had to be
“future proof’ and able to accommodate new innovations.

The installation includes the aforementioned Lowther Wing, a local innovation
developed by Paul Lowther of Lowther Communication, which is a mobile frame
complete with all relevant connections, cabling and wireless connectivity that
accommodates two large flat panel LED screens up to 65′.

“We use the WING for presentations for larger audiences,’ says Meintjes. “You can
add a VC unit in the middle which makes it ideal for that application. This is one of
Paul Lowther’s solutions we actually love to use here.’

On T-Systems adoption of the WING, Lowther says: “The WING is a device that we
have designed and patented and this is T-System’s second one that they own. The
first one is at the head office. It’s fully configured with all the video conferencing
equipment and it’s interesting, because they use it in four different locations every
single day of the week. The old VC trolleys, that always used to bug me, are very
difficult to move and get into a lift. People aren’t inclined to move them around very
much because of this. So we’ve designed something that is flat-backed, takes half an
hour to assemble with one Allen key, has triangulated wheel mechanism for ease of
transportation and is integrated with the wePresent platform which allows you to
seamlessly connect mobile devices to display presentations.’

As stipulated, the core idea behind the Innovation Factory was to get down to
business instead of stifling presentations with getting the technology to work. This is
why you won’t find one hard-wire connection in the facility; everything is connected
wirelessly in normal presentation conditions. However, for redundancy, a NET-QC-
12580 wall plate was provided in the demonstration room in case of a wireless
system failure. (This was actually not installed however there is an analogue and
digital cable input)

The demonstration room, probably the central focus of the AV installation, features a
NEC UM280Wi short throw interactive projector that can be fed wirelessly via a
variety of devices via the Awind WiPG WePresent 1500 platform, mounted in a device
rack and on the WING.

“These allow the client and customers to simultaneously connect up to 64
presentation devices and display a mix of any four of them concurrently onto the big
screens,’ comments Lowther. “This includes connectivity to any Android, Apple or
Windows based device – smartphones, laptops etc. It works fantastically!’

Interestingly, the projection screen, which is also an annotation whiteboard system
via NEC e-Beam technology, is a custom creation that is actually a piece of sturdy
glass table top covered in white vinyl mounted to the wall. The brushed metal wall
mounts combined with the glass border around the vinyl gives it a somewhat tech-
noir look while saving costs and offering an effective solution.

The rest of the boardroom AV equipment includes a Crestron CP3 control system
processor, a Crestron DIN1-DIM-U4 four-channel universal dimmer, a Crestron HD
SCALER video scalar, a Crestron TPM-C3-SMBS ISYS 2.8′ touch panel, a Kramer VM-
4HxI four-way HDMI switcher and a Yamaha RX-V375 5.1 channel AV receiver and
Blu-Ray player. For conference calling, a Polycom SoundStation2W 1.8GHz DECT
wireless unit was supplied which includes the base station.

“Based on our client brief of Innovation, reliability, portability (the WING)
accessibility, ease of use and wireless connectivity,’ says Lowther, “we felt that the
equipment schedule would not only help us in delivering upon that brief, but that we
were comfortable that it would delight the client now with its form and function and
would do this for many years to come. By selecting the latest Crestron Control
Processor, the CP3, the client has also invested in redundant capacity that allows
them to add and control many more venues and equipment from this one master
processor.’

Lowther adds: “Our design is also completely modular, allowing the client to expand
and add features and equipment as and when needed. Based on our huge exposure
to the Crestron and NEC range of products over many years of implementing such
solutions, Lowther Communications has great comfort too knowing that the excellent
support and backup from the distributors, allows us to always deliver and fulfil our
mandate.’

The wrap

The Innovation Factory at the Innovation Hub is a virtual crucible for innovation and
design. The open plan layout and the seamlessly integrated technology installed by
Lowther Communications easily fosters the environment where up and coming idea-
forgers can develop their concepts without the hurdles of cumbersome, difficult-to-
operate technology. Given the expandability of the installation and capacity to
implement future developments, I’m sure the facility will be a fecund environment for
young, burgeoning minds for years to come.