Boston Market Building’s Atrium Transformed Through Indoor Projection-Mapping

December 22, 2021 by Dave Haynes

This is a really interesting use of an otherwise unproductive atrium space in a market building in Quincy, MA, a south Boston suburb.

The Gallery at Kilroy Square is now an interactive canvas for local and regional digital artists that will switch out exhibitions easily, because the main delivery mechanism is projection mapping. The program was put together by the traditional and digital signage fabricator Design Communications Ltd (DCL), in Boston.

Says DCL Creative Director Jeff Grantz, via Linkedin:

We collectively embarked on this design build project several years ago, and in pre-pandemic conditions. Inspired by ILLUMINUS, with the similar intent of providing a dynamic opportunity for regional artists to present their work in public spaces. The Gallery at Kilroy Square is exactly that. An immersive 3D projection mapping system (developed, engineered, and integrated by DCL) transforms this blank public atrium into a fully interactive canvas that is specifically designed to evolve and change with the works of local artists for years to come.

The first installment, developed and produced by StudioHHH, presents the experiential story of the history of Quincy’s shipbuilding and the making of one of the first submarines – “the Octopus”. With a content management system provided by Float4 and HD laser projectors from EPSON, a huge art wall is enabled with gestural motion tracking that turns the space into an interactive canvas. As the Octopus submarine plunges to various depths it brings visitors through a series of uniquely interactive underwater adventures – from swimming in a circling vortex of fish to playing amongst bioluminescent jellyfish that activate with colors as you walk by.

The project is public accessible at Kilroy Square in Quincy.

There’s a really good video on the project here. Unfortunately, the Vimeo settings don’t allow me to just embed it, so just click through to view.