Mainz, Germany, 2007 (on air since 2009)

Hosoya Schaefer Architects was part of an interdisciplinary team that worked on the new heute news studio at ZDF. The brief was to create a studio that allows new ways of moderating newscasts on TV but also has implications for online and other new media. The studio was planned partly in real space, partly in virtual space and had to be a cutting-edge fusion of the capabilities of both. It was built to incorporate the newest technologies, including robot-controlled cameras and vizRT-based virtual technology.

Hosoya Schaefer Architects was responsible for conceptualizing the relationship between real and virtual space and for creating concepts, proposals, and initial layouts for information graphics. This was done in collaboration with experts for on-air, online and industrial design as well as typography. To this end the total studio environment including the cameras was built within a game engine that served as a tool for rapidly prototyping concepts. It was also planned to facilitate a link to database-based content.