VIVID SYDNEY 2022

When The Electric Canvas were asked to work on Vivid Sydney 2022, they were prompted with this year’s theme: the “Spirit of Sydney,” leaving room for interpretation. As this was the first Vivid Sydney event since the COVID-19 pandemic, the team were especially motivated to give the crowd a next-level experience.

The Electric Canvas began with the idea to make a large building projection. Quickly, they devised a plan to incorporate two interactive stations from servers running Notch and Azure Kinect with screens that the public could use. Those in attendance were given their own Kinect avatars which they could see on the screens in front of them and up on the clock tower of the building, where they were sent via NDI. The overall projection comprised a main timeline video as well as inserts of NDI in an overlay video which smoothly blended all of the material.

The team also drove video on the media server. In the words of Richard De Souza, Creative Director at The Electric Canvas, they “noded” a blob tracker so that when people interacted, they would send OSC for different light-reach points so as to have secondary motion reinforcing the final product. For instance, different windows on the building would light up depending on what zone people waved their hands from. With several layers of interactivity, the show could be endlessly engaging.

Additional press coverage:

Time Out, Finder.