One of the highlights of Big5 at Dubai World Trade Centre in November 2016 was an array of product demonstrations taking place through the halls of the exhibition. These demonstrations attracted huge crowds as visitors got the opportunity to understand the benefits of using the product as well as try their hand at some of the products and machines. Here are some of the products and demonstrations that took place at Big5 Dubai.
Featured image: Sculptor Lydia Jenkins Musco prepared to assemble a concrete sculpture. Image via Taj [not taken during Big5].
Effisus Easyrepair Membrane
Effisus, a brand of Up-Way systems, presented a product called Easyrepair membrane, a sealing and waterproofing solution. Jorge Spratley, an international business developer, gave a short presentation during which he distributed samples of the membrane so that visitors could understand how hardy the product was in contrast to traditional solutions. He peeled the membrane adhesive, cleaned the application surface and applied pressure on the adhesive using a roller. He explained that once the special primer in the adhesive got activated, the membrane could never be peeled off.
Pedro Carvalho, strategy & business development director, said, “We created this product to solve imminent problems in construction where maintenance was required to fix serious leaking problems.” He also demonstrated how Effisus Ecofacade membrane works. With its waterproof, vapor-proof and air-proof qualities, it could prevent the building from getting mold, thus improving the quality of indoor air and ultimately ensuring proper air management in the building.
Taj Decorative Concrete
Visitors at the Taj Decorative Concrete area were greeted with a huge expanse of polished concrete slabs with intricate spray-painted symmetric designs. Matthew Burns, CEO of Taj Decorate Concrete, is also the designer and artist who creates stunning designs on concrete, with 20 years’ experience in decorative concrete under his belt. He had already created exotic Modello designs on the concrete floorings. During this particular demonstration, he created a design on a concrete bench. He first used the paint on the uneven surface of the bench to give a crackling effect, after which he placed a stencil and used a brush to apply thick black paint in a circular stroke onto the bench surface. After peeling the stencil, a stunning antique design was left from the process. The stains used are water-based and transparent color stains that come in various colors from Ancient Amber to Samurai Red.
“This is our second year at Big5 and the response is phenomenal. This is because decorative concrete and color stains are quite in demand by both designers and architects. The other trend is to work an organic feel into the furniture, such as blending wood and concrete with deliberate imperfections,” Matthew said.
Selfies at Heights
Rapid Access once again sponsored the “selfies at heights” experience in the outdoor concourse of the exhibition. It was, by far, one of the most sought out experiences: People boarded the boom-type lift, went as high as 24 meters and took in the view of the city and skyscrapers at a distance. Each visitor was clad in safety gear before boarding the lift. They were briefed about safety rules and were not allowed to take any of their belongings onto the machine. Once they boarded the lift, the operator who accompanied them started the machine and the arm of the machine lifted up. After selfies were taken by a Rapid Access mobile phone, the operator made the descent. The whole process took five minutes.
“Selfies are quite the in thing these days. We wanted to offer people a chance to enjoy one of our product lines in a safe yet fun environment. This also gave them an idea of how our powered access platforms work. For example, while the boom-type lift is meant just for one person, apart from the operator, the scissors lift allows four people in addition to the operator. Moreover, while this particular boom lift went as high at 24 meters, the biggest boom lift we have goes up to as high as 47 meters,” Mike Palmer, QHSE & health and training manager, Middle East and international, said.
The Excavator Challenge
Adding a sense of healthy competitive spirit, the Excavator Challenge by M.H. Al Mahroos attracted huge crowds to the open door arena. Two compact excavators were occupied by visitors who wanted to take part in a mini-competition. All they had to do was score a “goal” by placing a ball using the arms of the excavator into a basket. M.H. Al Mahroos, a Bahrain-based construction and industrial equipment trading company, used the excavator challenge to demonstrate its Yanmar excavators to customers. The objective was to demonstrate that Yanmar excavator’s unique design helps the operator to maneuver it in tight spaces such as indoor corridors.
“We have 80 years of experience in construction and industrial equipment trading in the Bahrain market and now we have expanded into the UAE market due to the demand for our quality products. We are also showcasing our online shopping website which is the first of its kind in the region where our customers can purchase spare parts, machinery equipment and accessories with ease,” Marketing manager Talal Al Mahroos said.
Wizzo, a Robotic Security Guard
The prototype of DigiRobotics Technologies’ first humanoid robot, named Wizzo, was unveiled at Big5. The company, which is the first Robotics Development Park in the Middle East, shared with the visitors the story of Wizzo’s creation. Sarah Hachem, product manager, said that “Wizzo was bought by DP World to take over the role of a security guard. This is a move toward innovation, which Dubai is known for. DP World wanted to have an intelligent robot who could not only have face recognition and voice recognition but also detect emotion.”
During the presentation, visitors had the opportunity to get up close to Wizzo and talk to her. Simple questions such as “What is your name?” and “How are you?” were posed. She answered the questions and followed the presenter around.
“We expect the launch to happen in December and it will be programmed to detect accents and understand 14 languages,” Sarah said.
Other DigiRobotics demonstrations taking place in other parts of the conference were engraving work onto Styrofoam by the DigiRob Engraver and welding work by DigiRob Welder machine.
