Hardware
Epson projectors support interactive, immersive learning in Des Moines school district
Epson projectors are flipping the gym class scenario on its head by changing out the traditional gym class experience with immersive and interactive learning experiences.
August 6, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
While some elementary students are gung ho when it comes to gym class, not every student is a fan and it can be more than a bit difficult to get an entire class engaged during class time.
That's been the scenario for elementary gym teachers working for the Des Moines Public Schools.
But Epson projectors have flipped the scenario on its head — changing out that prior gym experience with immersive and interactive learning experiences.
Why Epson was a good fit
The district has installed Epson Pro Series large venue laser projectors in 27 gymnasiums that can be used any time of day or evening, even with open windows and LED lights on. Students can participate in activities and games during class.
The large venue laser projectors proved a perfect fit for more than a few reasons, according to Gavin Downey, group product manager at Epson America, Inc.
"The Pro Series laser projectors provide all the benefits of laser driven displays, incredible image quality, durability and the ability to use lenses from prior generation Epson lamp-based models," Downey said in an email interview.
The projector effort was spearheaded by a teacher's advocacy for projection technology. As each gymnasium is a different configuration the project involved a wide range of projector lenses that could be mounted in whichever location worked best.
Little maintenance, lots of innovation
Des Moines Public Schools is the largest provider of public education in the state, serving more than 30,000 students and employing nearly 5,000 staff members that span across 60 schools throughout the community.
The Pro Series touts a virtually maintenance-free laser light engine and electrostatic air filter to provide essentially maintenance-free operation for up to 20,000 hours, with no lamps to worry about.
"There's been a quantum leap in terms of innovation impacting size, brightness, resolution, and cost within the projection industry," said Downey. " As a company investing in projection innovation, we need to continually improve our end-user partner's understanding of where we are, where we're going and how we're aligning future products to meet the needs we hear from them."
The projectors also feature a full range of inputs, which allow usage beyond gym class, such after school activities and events, including movie nights and video game tournaments.
The beauty of laser projection
The district initially deployed four projectors and, based on the successful impact, it then deployed the total of 11 Pro L1490 and 16 EB-PU1008W projector installations in 27 schools so far. It plans to equip all 41 elementary school gymnasiums with large venue projectors.
Demand for projector technology in educational settings is growing, according to Downey.
"Decision makers managing medium to large classrooms, auditoriums, and theaters in educational facilities are being asked to provide increasingly large images," he said. " Laser projection often can provide larger images, higher resolution for close viewing and simpler installations, at lower overall costs than many competing technologies."
About Judy Mottl
Related Media
Subscribe
Get the latest news and resources from Digital Signage Today.
