Designing an Immersive AV Experience for the National Space Centre

How Audiotek combined curved LED, immersive audio, integrated control systems and immersive AV design to bring NSC Creative’s Outer Solar System vision to life.

The Project in 30 Seconds

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the National Space Centre set out to create an immersive gallery that would transport visitors through the outer Solar System.

The project brought together two specialist disciplines. NSC Creative developed the visitor experience and storytelling, while Audiotek engineered the AV systems needed to deliver that vision. By integrating curved LED displays, immersive audio, specialist fabrication, advanced control systems and immersive AV design into one seamless environment, the result is an experience where the technology disappears, and the story takes centre stage.

Immersive AV design, Key Takeaways

The most memorable visitor attractions are engineered around experience, not technology.
The best immersive environments are created when storytelling leads and engineering enables.
Curved LED displays and integrated LED flooring create a more natural sense of immersion.
High dynamic range (HDR) display technology helps present space imagery with exceptional realism.
Success comes from blending creative vision with technical expertise into one seamless visitor experience.

Engineering Experiences That Inspire Exploration

When visitors walk into the National Space Centre’s new Outer Solar System gallery, they don’t see an array of screens and loudspeakers.

They see space.

Planets appear to float around them. Vast star fields stretch beyond their peripheral vision. Rich colours, deep blacks, and immersive surround sound combine to create the sensation of travelling through one of the most remote parts of our Solar System.

Every successful immersive attraction starts with a story.

NSC Creative imagined an experience that would transport visitors beyond Earth and place them at the centre of the Solar System. From there, the challenge became one of engineering. Every display, loudspeaker, structural element, and control system had to work together to deliver that creative vision without ever distracting from it.

That’s where experience engineering begins.

Immersive AV design, The Challenge

Creating an immersive attraction is never as simple as installing screens and speakers.

Visitors needed to feel immersed from the moment they entered the gallery. Every element of the environment had to perform as a single system, with visuals, audio, architecture, and engineering working together so naturally that the technology itself almost disappeared.

Designing an Environment Rather Than Installing Equipment

One of the biggest differences between an immersive environment and a conventional AV installation is that every design decision influences how visitors feel inside the space.

Large-format curved LED displays were chosen to remove the hard edges associated with traditional flat screens, creating a natural field of vision that allows visitors to become part of the environment rather than simply observe it.

Integrated LED flooring extends the visual environment beneath visitors’ feet, reinforcing the illusion created by NSC Creative’s content and helping blur the boundary between the physical space and the digital world.

The result is a space that surrounds visitors instead of presenting information from a single direction.

Reproducing Space with Absolute Accuracy

Space is surprisingly difficult to display well.

The deepest areas of space demand true black levels. Planetary surfaces require subtle colour reproduction. Nebulae and distant galaxies rely on exceptional contrast to preserve detail. Any compromise in image quality immediately breaks the illusion.

Every engineering decision was driven by the story being told. Colour accuracy, contrast and HDR performance weren’t specified to achieve impressive technical figures—they were chosen because they helped make the worlds created by NSC Creative feel believable.

Rather than focusing purely on brightness or resolution, the emphasis was on creating lifelike imagery that supports the educational experience while maintaining a genuine sense of wonder.

Surrounding Visitors with Sound

Visual immersion is only one part of the experience.

Sound plays an equally important role in helping visitors feel present within an environment. A carefully designed surround sound system provides depth, movement, and atmosphere throughout the gallery, allowing audio to complement the visual storytelling rather than compete with it.

Whether recreating the scale of space or guiding visitors through different stages of the exhibition, audio helps create a more emotional and memorable visitor experience.

Engineering Behind the Scenes

While visitors experience a seamless environment, a significant amount of engineering sits behind every immersive installation.

Specialist structural fabrication, precision installation, equipment integration, system calibration, and testing all contribute to ensuring every element performs as a single system.

The most successful immersive projects begin long before equipment is specified. Storytelling leads. Engineering enables. When creative and technical teams are aligned from the outset, visitors never notice the technology—they simply become immersed in the experience.

Experience Engineering in Practice

Projects like the National Space Centre demonstrate how immersive technology is changing visitor attractions.

Modern museums are no longer simply places to display information. They’re places where visitors interact, explore and experience stories in entirely new ways.

Technology should never become the attraction itself. It should quietly support the creative vision, allowing visitors to focus on discovery rather than the equipment surrounding them.

Whether creating excitement in a nightclub, emotion in a theatre, curiosity in a visitor attraction or innovation in an experience centre, the engineering principles remain remarkably similar: integrate every discipline so completely that visitors forget the technology is there.

Immersive AV design, The Result

The completed Outer Solar System gallery demonstrates what’s possible when creative storytelling and technical engineering are developed as one.

Visitors are encouraged to explore, interact, and engage with one of the most fascinating regions of our Solar System through an environment where technology enhances learning without distracting from it.

For Audiotek, the project showcases how experience engineering can turn ambitious creative ideas into practical, reliable visitor attractions. For the National Space Centre, it delivers an unforgettable educational experience. And for visitors, it proves that when storytelling leads and engineering enables, learning becomes something you experience rather than simply observe.

Kit List

Description	Model	Manufacturer
WN1.5mm Curved Panel	4(150337.5mm) Size Module. Total module size 600mm x 337.5mm.	TaylorLED
TaylorLed – Power Cable 5m		TaylorLED
WD2.6 LED Floor Panel-GOB		TaylorLED
TaylorLED – Power Cable 10m		TaylorLED
TaylorLED – Data Cables		TaylorLED
Hanging Bar	1/4 Panel Wide	Lucid Creates Ltd
Architectural Loudspeaker Cabinet (Black) ARQISSB10i is a wooden subwoofer reinforcement cabinet with a compact format, stylish aesthetics.		Ecler
Amplifier (Compact) eCA120HZ is a mono micro-amplifier delivering 1 x 120 W RMS @ 70V / 100 V line level (high impedance),		Ecler
2-Way Ceiling Speaker, 6″ LF, 1″ HF – White	IC6	Ecler
2 x 1.5mm² TruSound Multicore Circular Speaker Cable Black LSHF		TruSound
6.5″ CDD Speaker Black		Martin Audio
6/8 Wall Bracket Black		Martin Audio