The LAB
at Panorama

Rather than a singular, large-scale tech activation, META proposed an approach that first and foremost celebrated the artists behind the technology, and the greater NYC creative community.

A three-part model for 2016: the Façade, the Exhibition, and the Dome. A major hit in its debut, the LAB continued to evolve for two more years.

2016 drew long lines. The 2017 RFP responded with more room and more group participation.

That response took shape in Right Passage by The Windmill Factory: turning the queue into part of the experience. Explore the solution below.

The second-year installations made participation a shared creative act. Ekene Ijeoma’s Heartfelt asked visitors to hold hands to complete a circuit of light and sound. Emilie Baltz’s Dream Machine brought multiple players together through scent, touch, light and music.

The 2017 guide’s exhibition brief made the audience’s contribution part of the artwork, not just a way to trigger a display.

The move to a tree-lined, grassy site prompted Fractal Nature: a more daytime-friendly, communal and decentralized LAB. Instead of relying on enclosed dark tents, the brief asked the curated works to respond to their surroundings and HP’s commitment to a technology-driven sustainable future.

This was a creative direction in the 2018 guide, not a measured sustainability result.

The 2017 RFP set a four-month build window, and required installations that could be built or recreated on-site in 48 hours.

Both figures are RFP requirements, not delivery measurements.

The 2017 RFP sequenced the visit as a story:

1. 01A welcome experience
2. 02Multiplayer installations
3. 03Two interactive musical microdomes
4. 04A room-scale experience
5. 05A finale in the 90-foot dome

Prism’s Future Portrait turned body movement and pen input into a live, remixable portrait. Its technical design separated depth capture, the inking interface and visualization into networked applications—connecting the visitor’s gestures to the projected image.

The room-scale brief asked for an experience that keeps guests entertained while waiting, and makes a creative asset out of the line itself.

For 2017, META commissioned The Windmill Factory’s Right Passage as the creative solution: an immersive performance that made the queue an experience in its own right, rather than a delay before the artwork.

Performers moved six reflective monoliths, reshaping the room into a changing labyrinth of corridors. Haze, beams of light and an original score guided visitors through a journey from darkness to a warm, sun-like finale.

The solution was to give the line a role in the story. Movement through the space became part of the performance, combining audience flow with choreography, scenic design, lighting and sound.

The 2016 production guide integrated architectural drawings, the exhibition floorplan, the façade projection plan, a 23-zone audio setup, wayfinding, and artist installation technical riders.

For its third year the LAB moved into a more natural, tree-laden, grassy environment. The Fractal Nature theme contrasted with the darker look of the first two years and supported HP’s sustainability focus.

The new site plan placed the installations among the existing trees and grass, with a route through Magenta Field’s Portal to Flatland toward the dome. The guide records the layout’s approval by AEG engineering on July 9, 2018.

Future Portrait’s drawing brought the interaction into physical space: a curved screen, depth sensors, an inking station and an access ramp. The guide paired these installation-level plans with a staged load-in schedule, followed by a Right Passage run-through before opening.

The schedule documents the planned sequence; it is not a claim about actual build duration.

Coordination of the live audiovisual systems. The 2016 guide documents projection and synchronized multichannel audio playback.

META led the artists and creative staff delivering the LAB’s installations.

META led the creative crews supporting the artists’ work, rather than general site operations.

META oversaw the creative presentation of the artists’ work.