Hoberman Makes Barco`s Ground-Breaking Video Screen Transform for the U2 360° Tour

Innovative Designs, Barco, and Hoberman Associates Debut the Awe-Inspiring
Expanding Video Screen in Barcelona, Spain
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Hoberman Associates, Inc., a New York-based design firm, assisted Innovative
Designs and its parent company Barco, in creating the centerpiece for the U2
360º tour - the Expanding Video Screen - that debuted on June 30, 2009 during
the band`s opening night in Barcelona, Spain.

While large video screens are a familiar fixture for arena style rock concerts,
U2 was looking for something unprecedented for its 360º tour - a giant screen
that could change its size and shape.

Chuck Hoberman, along with long-time U2 collaborators, Willie Williams and Mark
Fisher, and Frederic Opsomer of Innovative Designs, conceptualized this fusion
of architecture, stage scenery and extreme technology. They came up with a
design for an elliptical video display, approximately the size of a tennis court
that could morph into a 7-story high cone-shaped structure, enveloping the band
as it extends.

Constructed of stainless steel and aircraft aluminum, the display is made of 888
LED screens, with 500,000 pixels spanning across them, providing concertgoers
with clear and visually stunning images. It has a screen area of 3,800 square
feet, and weighs approximately 120,000 pounds.

Suspended from the center of "The Claw," the main stage set named for its
futuristic, four-legged design, the Expanding Video Screen provides U2 fans the
first-ever 360-degree concert view. With a height of 164 feet, the entire U2
360º set is twice as tall as the stage from the Rolling Stones` A Bigger Bang
tour, which was, according to Rolling Stone magazine, the largest stadium set
built to date. Accordingly, every seat in the U2 tour`s 75,000-plus seat
stadiums will have a completely unobstructed view of the show.

Chuck Hoberman, founder of Hoberman Associates, Inc. stated, "The Expanding
Video Screen fuses technology, design and architecture. It`s a video display
that becomes something else, a living theatrical event. This project has been a
true feat of engineering, accomplished by a fantastic team of architects,
engineers and artists. We are thrilled to be a part of the U2 concert experience
and give every fan in every seat of the stadium a clear and unique perspective
of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen."

The Expanding Video Screen`s development is based on Hoberman`s patented `Iris
Structure` that has been realized in other forms, including the Iris Dome at The
Museum of Modern Art (New York City, 1994), the Iris Dome at the World`s Fair
(Hanover, Germany, 1999) and the Olympic Arch (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2002).

The screen was produced by Barco and Innovative Designs. Hoberman Associates and
Innovative Designs were responsible for screen design and engineering.
Engineering firm Buro Happold provided all structural analysis for the screen.

To create the Expanding Video Screen`s atypical design, Innovative Designs, Buro
Happold, and Hoberman Associates had to overcome multiple technical challenges;
including designing a product that withstands high winds and inclement weather.
The screen is durable enough to last the rigors of an 18-month tour and has the
ability to be assembled and disassembled in less than eight hours.

A moving screen of this scale has never before been incorporated into the
concert experience. As Frederic Opsomer of Innovative Designs remarked, "Video
screens used to be 3x4 meters…but now we'll take it much further."

Creative Credits for U2 Expanding Video Screen
Screen concept: Willie Williams, Mark Fisher, Frederic Opsomer, Chuck Hoberman
Screen design: Innovative Designs and Hoberman Associates
Screen production: Barco, Innovative Designs

About Hoberman Associates, Inc.

Nowhere do the disciplines of art, architecture and engineering fuse as
seamlessly as in the work of inventor Chuck Hoberman, the founder of Hoberman
Associates, a multidisciplinary practice that specializes in Transformable
Design-the development of products, structures, and environments that change
their size and shape.

Hoberman demonstrates that objects which are foldable, retractable or
shape-shifting have functional benefits: portability, instantaneous opening, and
intelligent responsiveness to the built environment. The practice works on
diverse projects, from consumer products to deployable shelters, space
structures, and buildings.

For more information, please visit http://www.hoberman.com

Media:
Affect Strategies
Leslie Campisi, 212-398-9680 x144
lcampisi@affectstrategies.com
or
Hoberman Associates, Inc.
Craig Holland, 212-349-7919 x 223
craig@hoberman.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009