The Lobby: How the Technology Experience Starts at the Door

The places where we live, work and play don’t always have doors, for one, or distinct “lobbies” – but that doesn’t mean that attention to detail shouldn’t be given to the first impression a space and its technology provides a customer or guest.

When there is a physical lobby or entry space, that attention is even more critical. The space is the first place a visitor will see upon engaging with the overall facility, and the technology solutions there can inspire, educate and heighten the experience of guests.

Let’s explore this often-overlook aspect of a holistic audiovisual solution that can elevate the overall facility from the first step inside.

The Benefits of Lobby AV Technology Solutions

There are a variety of use cases and subsequent benefits that lobby AV technology solutions can bring to a facility, both experiential and practical.

From an experience standpoint, leveraging immersive and experiential AV solutions inside lobbies can set guests’ expectations for their experience from the onset and provide a way to bring fun and excitement from the first moment they enter a space.

Consider enormous and interactive video walls and displays, dynamic ceiling installations, and more. These unique elements not only help spaces designed for visitors create a holistic atmosphere of engagement and wonder but can help multi-family and office buildings entice and satisfy tenants, aid corporations in driving business from the first impression, and more.

It’s all about creating an experience that people will remember, and a traditional “corporate” or professional setting is no excuse to let the untapped potential of immersive and engaging lobby experiences go unexplored.

Further, AV solutions in lobbies, particularly in the form of digital displays, have taken on a new level of critical importance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital display solutions like video walls can assist in wayfinding for guests, the distribution of key safety and security information, and more, providing an avenue toward leveraging a clean, beautiful solution to deliver what occupants, guests and more need to know.

The bottom line is this – lobbies don’t have to be bland. Visitor rooms, communal employee spaces, lounges and more are often the first targets for AV solutions that inspire, but lobbies are prime real estate ready to help leave an impact and engineer a memorable experience for all who enter them.

Examining Innovative, Immersive and Informative Lobby AV Solutions

Let’s explore some examples of lobby spaces that have taken this push toward innovative AV solutions to heart, delivering results for tenants, owners and operators, and visitors alike.

• Digital Media Band at 110 High St. in Boston
  Lasalle Investment Management knows corporate lobbies tend to be bland – and it decided to go in the opposite direction. About 100 feet in the opposite direction, to be exact.
  
  By implementing a 100-foot interactive digital media wall that begins outside the lobby and draws visitors in before allowing them to dynamically change content with gestures, Lasalle helped the building reach 100% occupancy. And it’s no wonder – the experience is quite literally a singular one.
  
  
• Transforming the Visitor Experience at the Independence Visitor Center
  Who says history needs to be boring?
  
  At the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia, a 42-foot digital wall with touch surfaces gives visitors important information about local attractions and more in a way that also satisfies their desire to be engaged.
  Better yet, cameras collect data to constantly find out which information guests are taking in most and interact with machine learning to tailor the experience to those interests. That’s powerful stuff.
• The Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health
  Via touchscreen walls, a multi-touch video wall and interactive demonstration stations, this hybrid between visitor center and corporate communications facility is leading the way in education about the future of healthcare.
  
  Lobby AV solutions can literally forge the path forward in the world’s most critical industries, giving key players and guests alike the tools they need to develop a holistic understanding.
  
  
• The Cox Discovery Center
  The Cox Discovery Center was the company’s way of transforming its history into an impactful, memorable experience driven by a state-of-the-art gathering place.
  
  Powered by bold, animated beacons, interactive architecture and more, the Center helps reveal the heart of the company’s commitment to diversity and relationships.
  
  
• The Eaton Experience Center
  Eaton needed an impressive and memorable way to tell the story of the company’s core values.
  How about an atrium that includes a 53-foot LED chandelier and an 80-foot LED curtain that work in tandem to provide a dramatic, inspiring look into what drives the company? That’s true immersion.
• 250 W 57^th Street in New York City
  There’s no ceiling to the possibilities engineered by lobby AV solutions – at least figuratively. Literally, ceilings can be an integral part of a solution that wows.
  
  At 250 W 57^th Street, Empire State Reality Trust implemented a 76’ x 8’ LED screen affixed to the very ceiling of the lobby and tasked with generative customized images over a 24-hour cycle that bring occupants and guests abstract art, live news feeds, weather alerts and more.

Crafting the Right Lobby AV Solution for Your Space

Like any successful AV solutions project, selecting and implementing the perfect solution for a unique lobby or entry space requires working with the right end-to-end partner.

At Electrosonic, we leverage our proprietary Technology Master Planning™ methodology to align all the stakeholders on a given project from the start, delivering a coordinated effort that helps exceed your goals.

We also offer thorough Technology Design Consulting services across audio, video and control systems, information and communications technology, security, surveillance and access control, and acoustics. By examining the holistic project and its goals, the lobby can serve as part of a greater whole.

Finally, our Build and Integration Services help make all those big-picture dreams and solutions a reality. Solutions need to be optimized to maximize reliability, resilience, agility and security, and Electrosonic makes that simpler.

Your lobby is your chance to make an inspiring first impression. To learn how Electrosonic can do just that, contact us today.