December 4, 2012

As any tourist will tell you, hands-on exhibits are way more fun than those banning you from getting too close. That’s why Moshe Yeyni – CEO and multidisciplinary designer at Disk In Pro — is constantly dreaming up the next interactive multimedia attraction.

In an office in one of Tel Aviv’s scruffier neighborhoods, some of the coolest, most innovative sparkles of awesomeness are being designed and created for the global world of entertainment.

Spread the Word
• Email this article to friends or colleagues
• Share this article on Facebook or Twitter
• Write about and link to this article on your blog
• Local relevancy? Send this article to your local press

Disk In Pro is renowned for its new media platforms for visitor centers, museums, exhibitions, theme parks and corporate projects around the world.

“There is no other company in the world that is as imaginative and creative and talented as we are,” Yeyni states categorically. “We are pioneering the breakthroughs.”

From a madcap hotel concept, to full dome projection with special effects at a planetarium, to a footprint-less vehicle for the desert, Yeyni’s team is leading the way in state-of-the-art technologies, multi-screen production, 3D animation and installations.

“Israel has a special creative energy and this drives us to always make the newest and most challenging experience,” Yeyni tells ISRAEL21c. “Judaism shows us to learn, ask questions and research – and that’s what initiates us to create.”

A meticulous model of a new visitor center planned for the Galilee sits in the lobby of Disk In Pro’s offices. “Magic on the Sea of Galilee” will have floating platforms, stereoscopic (3D) projection on a convex screen, hovering chairs and interactive stations. Think Bellagio at the Kinneret.

The attraction will tell the history of the sea (Lake Kinneret, to Israelis) and about water in Israel. Companies from all over the world competed for this project.

“Instead of just relying on special effects, we also told a story,” says Dana Lovinger, the company’s marketing communications manager.

Telling a story through technology

At the end of the day, says Yeyni, it’s the story that makes or breaks a project.

Wacky, outlandish? Disk In Pro believes their Imagine Hotel could be the wave of the future.
Wacky, outlandish? Disk In Pro believes their Imagine Hotel could be the wave of the future.

“We’re always trying to figure out how to tell the story in a unique way,” he says. “Technology is a means. What’s important is to explain and give the visitor an experience.”

The Federation Equestre International (FEI), for example, turned to Disk In Pro to produce a multimedia gallery for the international body governing equestrian sport in Switzerland. Used to fusty exhibits, the FEI instead got an updated display including interactive projections on glass surfaces, designed interactive stations and unique projection on glass screens.

“We took the same products that the best companies in Europe use but put a twist on it. These tiny changes are what make our thought process unique,” Yeyni says.

Established in 1990, this small company of just 15 full-time employees has launched projects around the world. Its long client list includes Microsoft, World Expo, the Jewish Children’s Museum of New York, the Israel Olympic Committee and several Israeli government ministries and agencies.

Earlier this year at World Expo in Korea, the company set up “The Living Ocean,” a fantasy underwater world with light projections on fabric columns that stretched from floor to ceiling. Israel’s Foreign Ministry expected some 2,500 people to visit per day, but word-of-mouth praise channeled over 15,000 visitors to the Israeli pavilion.

Another of its projects is the Olympic Experience Museum in Tel Aviv. Unlike traditional museum exhibits, the content here is constantly updated. Disk In Pro is now supplementing the museum’s exhibits to include displays on Israeli and international athletes at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London.

If you dream it …

The “to do” list at Disk In Pro is chock-a-block. The company is working on designing a new generation of bank branches geared at helping customers better understand banking terms through graphics.

There are also a number of national park projects on the go, including one –about which Yeyni refuses to divulge too much information – that will include a vehicle that will take visitors into the desert but will not leave tracks.

Perhaps the coolest projects now underway are based on futuristic, even wacky ideas.

The Living Ocean drew lots of visitors to Israel’s pavilion at the World Expo in Korean. Photo by Hyuli.
The Living Ocean drew lots of visitors to Israel’s pavilion at the World Expo in Korean. Photo by Hyuli.

The company recently announced its Digital Canvas in Motion – screens of different sizes that can move in any direction and are synchronized with content to deliver a message or story. It’s a visual adrenaline rush.

Then there’s the Media Capsule – a space-like bubble with a 4D holographic sound-and-light show inside it. This portable amusement could give sponsoring companies the most popular ride at an event.

And still in the brainstorming stage is Imagine Hotel, a building with the best in technology on its walls, floors, guestrooms and lobby. Patrons to the hotel will be able to choose a personalized setting for their stay.

“The environment always changes,” says Yeyni. “If children want to be in a Harry Potter environment, for example, the room will adapt to that idea. You decide the atmosphere of the hotel that you want.”

It sounds far-fetched, but after all, ice hotels were first scoffed at before becoming the real deal.

“The person who takes up this project will hold the key to the future of hotels,” Yeyni predicts.

More on Life

More on Entertainment