TIPS & TRICKS

At its most basic, pattern projection and mapping is a stage lighting design technique in which a decorative pattern is washed over a large surface area to create a visual effect. In the past few years, stage lighting technology has developed so drastically that s its now capable of lifting cartoon characters out from behind screens and beaming them into real-life.

While your simple projectors might include a couple of gaudy, pre-programmed star or floral patterns in basic rotating laser lights, suitable for a dingy dance floor, more up-market varieties or clever use of mixed-method techniques, can produce stunning effects when handled by experts.

Your standard low-budget version, available for less than a couple hundred bucks, might toss out some basic patterning a la Windows Media Player, 1999:

In stark contrast, here s an example of some of the beautiful abstract patterns you can achieve what happens people who know what they re doing play around in their own studio with with a dual-lens:

These guys created a complete environment using music and pattern projection:

Curious about the future of pattern projection? Look to the East.

Following in their own glorious wait, what? tradition of giant robots and underwear vending machines, a few years ago Japan rocked up to the light-mapping party already packing a double-dose of next-level weirdness. In case you missed the uproar about it at the time, meet Hatsune Miku, an AI rock star with a synthesized voice and a body rendered entirely in 3D holographic light projection. Hitsune Miku s virtual self, backed up by a live band, performed her hit World is Mine to screaming, sold-out crowds:

Wanna play with the technology yourself on a smaller, miniaturized scale? You ll need an iPad, a mosquito screen, a miniprojector, and this video:

Neat, huh?

Image sources: Featured Image by Kevin Dooley