64 THE WORLD OF HOSPITALITY
FLOAT4
Grand Opening of The First
Guitar-Shaped Hotel in the World
Hotel
In a project managed, directed, engineered and The front facade of the hotel is both a media
installed by DCL (Design Communications Ltd)., system and a dynamic sculpture - the building
Float4, an award-winning creative agency based is lined with 16,800 V-Sticks (video fixtures
in Montreal specializing in the integration of using high-performance LEDs), which
digital experiences into physical space, is proud serve as a screen and stage to daily musical
to have designed and produced the digital showcases. During a show, each V-Stick will light
light spectacle for the grand opening of the up with different colours, speeds, patterns or
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in the city of directions, depending on the content sequence
Hollywood, Florida. Float4 has also designed two the Float4 team designed. Float4 worked
more daily shows for the hotel’s LED facade. A with DCL and SACO Technologies, a pioneer
first in the hotel and leisure industry around the company dedicated to advancing solid-state
world, the 400-ft tall guitar-shaped hotel is part LED technology in applications with lighting and
of a property expansion estimated at $1.5 billion. media, to program and choreograph the shows.
Float4’s expertise was brought on by DCL A 3D CAD model of the hotel was created to
(Design Communications Ltd.), a Boston-based pixel map each individual V-Stick, including its
leading fabricator of architectural specialties position on the building, the direction it was
including integrated digital media, custom facing, and its signal flow. The team needed
signage, rebranding, wayfinding, and themed to create a lookup table that the 4 Karat
entertainment. RealMotion server could use to sample content
from the model and output to the building
For this project, Float4 assembled a creative itself. Using a parsing script written by Float4’s
team to develop, produce and integrate software developer, those components, which
generative and sound reactive content for the
front-facing facade of the Guitar Hotel. When
devising content for the Hard Rock Hotel
project, Float4 wanted each show had a
purpose - a narrative and theme that evoked
an emotional response in the audience. The
shows will be a testament to how music has
amounted to about 2 million pieces of data,
been instrumental in defining the legacy of Hard
Rock hotels, restaurants and entertainment
properties around the world. All the content
is managed on a single 4 Karat media server
from RealMotion’s Gold Series, and the shows
will run from sundown to sunrise every night.
were converted into usable data strings, so
that the team could choreograph content that
corresponded to the building’s existing technical
infrastructure. Converting the data one by one
would have taken about 4 years to finish.