Realtime Projection Mapping with BlackTrax + d3

Production Technology in cooperation with BAJT created an incredibly complex projection mapping installation in celebration of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Programme for Smart Government awards (HbMPSG) at the World Trade Centre Arena in Dubai. The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Award for Smart Government is the first and most prestigious award to recognize and reward public services in Dubai.

They tracked the location of 3 moving set pieces (a spinning cube and two curved puzzle piece thingamajiggies) moving around a 22m circular stage, and then used 17 projectors to display visuals in almost perfect synchronization. They used BlackTrax for tracking the moving set pieces, which uses IR and RF markers to deliver 6 degree of freedom (position + orientation) information. Then they used d3’s 4x4pro media servers for content creation / playback for the 17 projectors.

To check out more real-time projection mapping see our previous articles in research land (Lumipen 1 & 2), using VYV for Miley Cyrus, and projection on people’s faces (Omote & FaceHacking).