Videoworks, 25 years of technological solutions

Over 100 employees, working in the three Italian offices of Ancona, Viareggio and Milan and in the international offices in the Netherlands, France, United States and Turkey
More than 850 projects fitted out in 25 years for the most prestigious shipyards and owners around the world
Continuous research to develop technological solutions that make life on board increasingly comfortable and safe: from audio/video systems to home automation and lighting systems, up to the new frontiers of connectivity and artificial intelligence applications

They came from all over the world and gathered in the headquarters of Ancona to celebrate the 25thanniversary of Videoworks Spa. There were over one hundred people present, from Italy and from the operating units in France, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United States.

The company was officially born in 1998, but the story of Videoworks actually begins much earlier, in 1974, when, as a division of the Pellegrini Group, it created its first audio/video system for Moneikos, the 40-metre yacht of CRN, followed by the development of onboard systems for the F100 yacht designed by Gerhard Gingergast for Gianni Agnelli. In the 1980s, while the company’s commitment to the yachting sector continued to grow, Videoworks began to expand its business by designing and manufacturing innovative systems for meeting rooms and auditoriums, until Videoworks Spa was founded in 1998.

Business transformation rapidly changed with the establishment of an independent company: the operational office was opened in Viareggio in 2005 and, three years later, another office was opened Milan. The beginning of international expansion dates back to 2016, with the establishment of Videoworks Europe BV, formerly in Aalsmeer and currently in Schiphol-Rijk, in the Netherlands. This important step stressed the intention to best serve the most exclusive nautical market, a sector that is still strategic for Videoworks today. Thus, in just a few years, operating offices opened one after another and, consequently, the number of yachts fitted out increased. 2019 was the year the Fort Lauderdale office opened in Florida (United States); the Cagnes-sur-Mer branch, on the Côte d’Azur in France, started its activity in 2020, whereas Videoworks Electronik Tic in Istanbul, Turkey, was founded in 2022

INCREASINGLY ADVANCED SOLUTIONS

New technological solutions are being concomitantly developed and are not limited to audio/video systems (which are also increasingly advanced and with absolutely cutting-edge solutions), but extend to the fields of home automation, lighting technology, but above all on-board connectivity. Owners want to have an Internet connection, at all latitudes, similar to what they enjoy on the mainland; the availability and stability of the yacht’s Internet connection becomes essential for the use of multimedia contents, but also for being able to manage web meetings while on board as in the office. Videoworks has provided reliable solutions to all these needs; a good example is the recent SD-WAN technology (acronym for Software-Defined Wide Area Network). The new challenge is now the implementation of artificial intelligence to make life on board even more comfortable.

Some of the most significant installations in the nautical field include the recent MY SP110 Almax for Sanlorenzo, in which all Videoworks skills are concentrated, with its cutting-edge communication, entertainment and home automation systems: “Key-Core Solution” is a single, centralised, 30-unit rack for AV and IT systems, while “MyInfo 3.0” can be used to control the entire yacht from an iPad, smartphone or TV remote control; 5G internet connectivity is guaranteed and connection to the LEO satellite system is possible; there are also “Pop-Up Speakers”. But this is only one example. Recent solutions include the ones installed in the MY RIO for CRN this year, and the MY Panam (Baglietto) and MY Resilience (ISA Yachts) last year, plus MY EIV for Rossinavi and Columbus Sport MY K2 in 2021, and also the 50m MY Riva Race, MY Cecilia for Wider, MY Spectre for Benetti, the MY Pershing 8X – the list could go on and on because Videoworks was involved in the construction of over 850 motor yachts

NOT ONLY BOATING

Three projects deserve special mention. In 2022, Videoworks became a partner in the Miracle-MOHMI project, an I-Labs platform that provides research and development activities for the creation of innovative home automation solutions, aimed at making living environments comfortable and sustainable. The goal is to develop a system for monitoring people’s emotions and exploit the home automation system to adapt their environment and improve comfort. Specifically, in the yacht environment, research is developed thanks to a working prototype created by Videoworks.

As part of the interventions on the “mainland”, it is probably enough to say that Videoworks was selected among the companies that contributed to the construction of the new PWC tower of “PricewaterhouseCooper”, which stands in the technological and innovative City Life area in Milan. Specifically, the company completed 200 Multitasking rooms and 100 small and middle-sized halls. These achievements, combined with approximately 50 Project Rooms, six Executive Rooms, five Agile Rooms, two Auditoriums and a Board room, confirm Videoworks’ ability to propose integrated audio and video solutions to improve interaction between people and productivity in every environment, both inside the office and in smart working mode.

These abilities are also confirmed by the installations curated in the Rectorate of the University of Milan. They include the Council Room and the Representation Room with multimedia workstations for conferences and a common control room for the live management of medium-high complexity events, all based on a very low latency audio-video over IP distribution system which gives maximum scalability and flexibility to the system. Videoworks also dealt with setting up other meeting rooms and updating the multimedia systems in over 80 classrooms located in the Città Studi area, in the Central Area and in the Medicine, Nursing and Language Mediation Hubs. In addition to the classrooms, the intervention envisaged the creation of numerous selfrecording studios within the university libraries.

“The future goal of Videoworks”, – explains the CEO Maurizio Minossi -, “while remaining a leader in the yachting business, is to consolidate itself in the B2B sector of universities and public bodies, promoting itself as a partner for the creation of systems in increasingly interactive environments for meeting rooms, public and private museum spaces and school and company classrooms.”