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Eclipse Bar At Ramada Express

Laughlin, Nevada, USA

With a name like Eclipse Bar, it’s only appropriate that this celestial-themed bar greets patrons under a colorfully illuminated ceiling. Located inside the Ramada Express, the contemporary space merges light and video with creative applications of Color Kinetics’ intelligent LED lighting technology.

Eclipse Bar’s signature decorative element is its ceiling, which transforms into a kaleidoscope of morphing colors and a canvas for custom-designed video effects. This canvas is comprised of 126 iColor® Tile FX units that are installed in a grid above the central bar. Each 2-foot by 2-foot (61 by 61 cm) unit conceals 144 individually addressable, tri-color LED nodes that act as pixels, enabling intricately designed patterns and effects, including video. This was achieved using Video System Manager, an integrated software/hardware solution that facilitates Ethernet-based control of Color Kinetics’ fixtures for video applications. Video Management Tool is the software interface that configures a mapping grid of Color Kinetics lights or nodes. Video System Engine is the hardware controller that processes live digital video, overlaying the video stream to the map of Color Kinetics lights or nodes. In this installation, Video System Engine is connected to a digital video converter to accept input from the hotel’s media server. The in-house marketing group can easily trigger video shows with a third-party touch screen interface.

Complementing the ceiling are two 15-foot (4.6 meter) columns of light that flank the central bar, each internally lit by 150 units of iColor Cove® NXT. Each 12-inch (30.5 cm) unit is individually controllable to allow for seamless shifts in color.In addition to the aesthetic versatility, the long-life, low-maintenance nature of the LED-based units makes them ideally suited for lighting enclosed spaces, where conventional sources may be impractical due to the need for frequent replacement. A series of vibrant, color changing effects was created using ColorPlay® authoring software, and then downloaded to an iPlayer® 2 device for simple playback.

The end result? A colorfully mesmerizing interior that lives up to its galactic name.