Is Projection Mapping Digital Signage? Nope.
February 2, 2015 by Dave Haynes
I saw a few tweets last night after the Katy Perry lip sync medley halftime at the Super Bowl gushing about how cool the digital signage was at the big game.
https://twitter.com/route802/status/562072660897579008
Well … yes, the projection mapping was kinda sorta cool. Seen way better at this game. But yeah, still …
However, it was not digital signage. That tech and technique just isn’t.
Yes, digital signage is a really broad term that can load up all kinds of technologies and efforts, but at its root it has always been about driving media to displays.
Projection mapping is all about laser-mapping surfaces like buildings (or covered football fields) and software that seamlessly stacks projectors and edge-blends projector images. It’s as much digital signage as broadcast TV is digital signage, or airport check-in screens.
In other words, it’s not the same thing, and this industry is muddled enough without trying to lump other media technologies in. There are, absolutely, some digital signage solutions companies that do projection mapping. but that’s what they call it.
Not sure who was behind the Super Bowl mapping work, though Montreal’s Moment Factory tweeted it wasn’t them …
Small clarification: we did not participate to this year's half-time show. We were at the NFL experience with @Verizon in Phoenix.
— Moment Factory (@MomentFactory) February 2, 2015
The visuals were done by http://lightborne.com. Not sure if they also handled the stage production, but it would have likely required a ton of rented equipment.
I may be picking nits, but I don’t think I’d call that projection mapping as there were no projectors. Impressive all the same.