Big-O, Digital Gallery likely to please visitors

By Kwon Mee-yoo

With only 10 days before the southwestern port city of Yeosu opens its doors to expo visitors, organizers are busy putting the final touches on pavilions and other features.

Among them, The Big-O's enormous round water screen will grab the most attention from visitors when they enter the site. Other thematic facilities such as the Sky Tower and Expo Digital Gallery are also ready to excite visitors.

Big-O

The Big-O, which stands for "big ocean," is one of the largest spectacles of the Yeosu Expo. Its big water screen should not be missed.

The Big-O area is composed of the Eco Zone, Culture Zone and Water Zone and an entertainment are with the landmark water screen the O and floating stage.

Built off the coast of the Yeosu New Port, the Big-O will provide a variety of events including marine performances, cultural events and the Night Multimedia Show.

Its floating stage is a collection of state-of-the-art technology. The 48-meter-long, 30-meter-wide stage can submerge some 20 centimeters to overcome a large tidal range of over four meters. A variety of performances from K-pop to France’s Water Opera will be staged here.

The O, the round water screen, is located behind the stage, providing various effects for the shows, from video projection to water jets and laser beams.

"The O borrows the initial O from ocean and resembles the number zero, embodying a new start through the oceans," a Yeosu Expo official said.

The Big-O also features water fountains in the sea, which reach up to 70 meters. Designed by WET design and ECA2, the show is complete with holography, lasers and a light show. The Big-O will reveal its main Multimedia Show on the opening night on May 11 and it will be held at 9:30 p.m. every day during the expo.

Expo Digital Gallery

The Expo Digital Gallery is a large LED screen on the ceiling of the International Pavilion.

Video projections of marine life and sea-themed tales such as "Simcheongjeon" and "The Little Mermaid" will be screened on the 218-meter-long, 30-meter-wide LED display. The crisp screen and 3D stereophonic sound will turn the pavilion into a huge digital aquarium.

"It will shower the visitors with cutting-edge technology upon their entering. It also has interactive features which allow visitors to send photos or message to the large screen," the Yeosu Expo official said.

Sky Tower

The Sky Tower is the highest structure of the Yeosu Expo and the best place to have a magnificent view of the site.

It was originally a cement storage tower, for the city for nearly 30 years from the 1980s and represents the industrialization of Yeosu. The Yeosu Expo Organizing Committee has turned the storage tower to an eco-friendly landmark.

The exterior has become an 80-scale pipe organ and the sound carries six kilometers away. It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the largest pipe organ in the world.

Two resident organists will play three to five times a day and special performances will feature orchestras and famed organists.

The Sky Tower has a seawater desalination system installed and visitors can sample the product.