In a boardroom, audiovisual technology is there to be used. In a museum, an airport, or a public attraction, the best AV does the opposite: it disappears. Visitors never think about the screens, speakers, or control systems. They just experience the place. Delivering that takes a commercial AV integrator who can design for reliability, scale, and the way real people move through a space.
At Backman Vidcom, we have been designing and installing commercial audiovisual systems across Halifax and Atlantic Canada since 1976, for museums, airports, courthouses, universities, and corporate spaces. One project shows what this looks like better than most: the Discovery Centre, Atlantic Canada’s largest science museum.
Summary:
- Public-venue AV succeeds when the technology serves the experience and stays invisible, which takes integration expertise, not just equipment.
- Backman Vidcom is a Halifax-based commercial AV integrator serving Atlantic Canada since 1976, across museums, airports, courthouses, universities, and corporate spaces.
- At the Discovery Centre, a 40,000 sq ft science museum on the Halifax waterfront, Backman Vidcom delivered the AV integration and produced the atrium’s colour-changing spheres and musical staircase experience.
- The project won a Commercial Integrator Integration Award in the museum category and was delivered on an aggressive timeline (install December 2016, open February 2017).
Why Public-Venue AV Is Different
A meeting room serves a handful of people who know how to use it. A public venue serves thousands of visitors who have never seen the space before, often all day, every day, with no IT desk to call when something goes wrong. That changes what matters. The systems have to be durable, intuitive for staff to run, and designed around the building and the visitor, not just the hardware.
It also means the AV integrator has to work shoulder to shoulder with architects, exhibit designers, and fabrication contractors from early in the project, so the technology is built into the space rather than added at the end. That coordination, more than any single product, is what separates a venue that performs from one that frustrates.
Case in Point: The Discovery Centre, Halifax
When the Discovery Centre built its new 40,000 square foot home on the Halifax waterfront, inside a historic former power station, the brief was not screens on walls. It was wonder. Across five galleries, water, health, flight, energy, and Creative Kids, plus an atrium, an immersive dome theatre, and an innovation lab, the audiovisual systems had to perform flawlessly for hundreds of thousands of visitors a year while staying invisible.
Backman Vidcom earned the AV integration contract after a two-year process, then delivered on a demanding timeline: installation began in December 2016 and the museum opened in February 2017. Beyond the AV integration across the building, our team served as show producer for the atrium feature experience, directing the programming of sequenced lighting, moving objects, and projection so they worked as one.
The result is the first thing every visitor sees. Giant spheres suspended from the ceiling shift colour overhead. A large interactive video wall is choreographed with four flights of stairs, and every step plays a musical note, a light-and-music show that becomes part of the visit. Core systems included a Planar Clarity Matrix video wall, Crestron automation, QSC audio DSP, and Apple content management.
“On a complex build of this nature, it was important to have a partner with specialized technical knowledge. They could see things that the others couldn’t.”
The project earned Backman Vidcom a Commercial Integrator Integration Award in the museum category, and our team continues to support the Centre so a mission-critical public attraction never goes dark.
A Commercial AV Integrator for Atlantic Canada's Most Demanding Spaces
The Discovery Centre is one example of a much broader body of work. As a Halifax-based commercial AV integrator, Backman Vidcom designs, installs, programs, and supports audiovisual systems across the region’s most demanding environments: museums and cultural venues, airports, courthouses and council chambers, hospitals, universities, and corporate boardrooms. Every project is handled in-house, from design through commissioning to long-term support, with no subcontracting.
Whether the goal is an interactive exhibit, a broadcast-grade video wall, a hybrid meeting room, or a full operations centre, the principle is the same one that guided the Discovery Centre: get the technology right, then make it disappear into the experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a commercial AV integrator do?
A commercial AV integrator designs, installs, programs, and supports audiovisual systems, displays, video walls, audio, control systems, and more, for organizations. Unlike a reseller who simply supplies equipment, an integrator designs the whole system around the space and the people using it, and commissions it to work reliably.
Who is the leading AV integrator in Halifax and Atlantic Canada?
Backman Vidcom has been a leading commercial AV integrator in Halifax and across Atlantic Canada since 1976, serving museums, airports, courthouses, universities, hospitals, and corporate clients.
What kinds of venues need commercial AV integration?
Museums and cultural venues, airports, courthouses and council chambers, hospitals, universities, theatres, corporate boardrooms, and operations centres all rely on commercial AV integration for displays, audio, video conferencing, digital signage, and interactive exhibits.
What did Backman Vidcom do at the Discovery Centre?
Backman Vidcom delivered the audiovisual integration across the Discovery Centre and acted as show producer for the atrium experience, including the colour-changing spheres and the interactive musical staircase and video wall. The award-winning project opened in Halifax in 2017.
Planning AV for a museum, venue, or public space in Atlantic Canada? Call 902-450-5005 or visit our contact page.
