Doosan: Global forum

The Doosan Global Forum is a Bi Annual Event that draws together Business Leaders from across the Globe to discuss a range of topics in including the environment, scientific and industrial Innovation. Around 50 delegates are invited to participate at the event that was held at the Equestrian and Tennis Centre at Gleneagles, Scotland. It was the first time such a complex event had been staged in the acoustically challenging space. Intelligible reproduction of speech in the main auditorium was one of the highest priorities for Doosan, Pb were tasked with ensuring every word could be heard clearly by all attendees at the meeting.

When working in difficult acoustic environments the best solutions involve both acoustic treatment and clever loudspeaker selection and placement, Pb were able to computer model the forum space to design a solution which included acoustic treatment to the forum spaces walls, floors and ceilings, then clever use of narrow dispersion loudspeakers ensured amplified sound was only directed at listeners and not at any surfaces which would cause reflections and in turn echo which would have reduced intelligibility.  The amplified audio system also included a level matrix and delay which not only ensured superior gain before feedback (the high-pitched noise often heard from poorly designed audio systems) but also delivered a natural sound reinforcement level.

Other technology employed in this project included a ‘push-to-talk’ system linked to a hot head camera system. The system gave us the capability to have any attendee raise a question and simultaneously locate them with one of the 6 cameras, and send their image instantly straight to the multitude of screens positioned around the auditorium.

The Doosan Global Business Forum organisers unanimously agreed that the event 2016 Forum was the most successful to date. The quality of the sound across all of the event spaces at Gleneagles was commented upon by many of the delegates and even Sir William Hague described it as “one of the most impressive events he has ever attended”.