The Many Faces of Projection Mapping11/07/11
Projection mapping is big news. In both its 3D and real-environment 4D forms, it has captured the minds and hearts of audiences, whether you are an advertiser, fashion lover, theatre-goer, or Beyonce. Advertising has played a big role in catapulting the technology forward, pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved, but ad moguls weren’t the first to utilise the technique and it was used as early as the 1840’s when powerful electric arc-lights were used for the illumination of public monuments in Paris, projecting pictures as well as text. Across the pond, Americans were using “stereopticon” projected slides outdoors on screens, blank walls and monuments.
Real-environment projection mapping differs slightly from its 3D form but the principles of how it works are the same. These, like in the 19th Century, are usually done against a flat surface and buildings, where the technique shows up best. 3D geometry is mapped with a 2D image, shining a light or video onto a surface to create the 3D effects. Shapes are set up with the same outline as elements within the image, so when the final image is projected back onto the scene the 3D shapes can catch the light from the subjects in the frame giving the ability to shift perspective slightly and creating the illusion of a 3D scene (in reality its more like 2.5D). The angles are somewhat limited, but the overall effect is pretty awesome. As you can see in the example below, the top image shows the scene through the eye of the master camera, all the textures appear correct and the scene works, if we rotate the camera away from the pre-determined path we can see the distortion in the scene as well as the true nature of some of the objects (eg, the ambulance where it was only necessary to model two sides as the top does not appear in the original image.
There are clear benefits to both: 3D can give campaigns a more stylised look, giving it a ‘super slow motion effect’ (see our work for Sungard and AT&T), and can reach a higher-level of realism without having to make an entire scene in full 3D. For campaigns running across print and motion, the assets are being shared across both, unifying the images perfectly , like our TV campaign for Derdubor, the famous Norwegian search engine. we were able to use real location photography with CG animation, allowing us to fly-through the different scenes, taking the viewers on a compelling journey. With a modest budget, we would not have been able to achieve the brief in any other way.
With real-environment, many companies and brands have jumped on the opportunity, creating staged events advertising their products. The primary benefit being that it allows dialogue between consumers, stimulating their visual perceptions of a brand. It is also a way of communicating with a captive, yet message-overloaded audience- making you stand-out amongst the noise from other advertisers. The marketing logic is the hope that the buzz will help the video go viral and boost product sales. The last year has seen a surge in this kind of projection mapping, with brands worldwide capitalising on the technique.
GlueIsobar’s award-winning work for Toyota Auris Hybrid, saw the focus shift from traditional projection on a building or flat surface to the actual car. The car was placed on a back street in Shoreditch, London, where unsuspecting passersby were treated to a magical display of blue ‘energy’ pulsating out of the car, interacting with objects around it, turning on lights, opening circuit boards and spilling coins. People’s reactions were captured along with their filming on the event via mobile devices, which later went viral in a big way.
Brands like Nokia, Samsung and BMW have all emerged victorious, displaying beautiful 3D videos on buildings around the world but the music, fashion, and theatre-arts have by no means lagged behind, producing some stellar examples of the technique. The fashion industry, faced with the constant pressure to stand-out was amongst one of the first outside of the advertising industry, to experiment with the technique. But just like fashion is cutting edge, it’s about knowing the next trends and getting ahead of those trends. Ralph Lauren staged an impressive projection on their flagship store on New Bond Street, with another similar event taking place at the same time at their Madison Avenue store in NYC. Racing horses, 50ft models, and even a scented mist, were used to complete the experience. They described it as a “collision of fashion, technology, art, commerce, and architecture.”
A recent production for Of Mice and Men saw projection mapping take a new direction and head for the theatre. Audiences were captivated by the top-down projections, showing railway tracks, speeding trans and rabbits, setting the stage alight enhancing moods and vistas. Beyonce’s performance at the 2011 Billboard Awards also left audiences enthralled. She spent a large proportion of the show interacting with projections of wings, flying spears, and dancing in perfect sync with other versions of herself. However, like 3D Stereoscopic, this is not new technology. It’s a technique in video art since the 80’s- and it works.
So what does the future hold? Well, at present, there still isn’t a lot of research showing the ROI on this technique, so it’s important that it reflects positively and is relevant to the product and brand. At the end of the day, you want the message to hit home and people to remember what it was all about in the first place. Recent examples have shown that its use has been anything but a niche-market gimmick, with various industry sectors using the technique. However, one thing is for certain, when done correctly the media attention is irrefutable, and you can never take too lightly the power of word-of-mouth.