Hard Rock Opens New Flagship Cafe on Vegas Strip

Hard Rock Opens New Flagship Cafe on Vegas Strip
September 10, 2009

Orlando, Fla.-based Hard Rock International announced the opening of the new Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas, which opened on Sept. 5. Anchoring the Showcase Mall development at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, the 42,000-sq.-ft. flagship cafe features a 950-seat restaurant, live concert venue and the world's largest Rock Shop, complete with Hard Rock's limited-edition merchandise. This is Hard Rock's second cafe location in the Las Vegas market. The original Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel remains open. The new Las Vegas cafe will showcase its authentic memorabilia collection via innovative multimedia technology. The largest item of the interactive suite is the Rock Wall. Hard Rock partnered with Technomedia Systems and Obscura Digital on this venture to create an 18-ft.-wide-by-4-ft.-tall interactive touch wall. A guest can access and expand a single image or video to be as large as the wall itself--or up to six guests can explore their own collections in dynamic "zones," simultaneously. The new Las Vegas cafe also utilizes Microsoft Surface, providing a 360-degree, multi-user interface that uses cameras to sense objects, touch and hand gestures on the 30-in. display. Hard Rock and Vertigo collaborated to create several custom applications for use on the Microsoft Surface platform, such as the worldwide memorabilia application that allows guests to locate Hard Rock properties around the world, explore images of both the exterior and interior of the building, then deep-zoom into the memorabilia items housed within those walls.