Projection mapping

Using specialized software, a two- or three-dimensional object is spatially mapped on the virtual program which mimics the real environment it is to be projected on.

[3] The technique is used by artists and advertisers who can add extra dimensions, optical illusions, and notions of movement onto previously static objects.

In the late 1960s, audiences referred to projection mapping as, "the Madame Leota effect,[7]" based on the use of the technique in Disney's Haunted Mansion.

Disneyland debuted a projection effect in 1969, when they opened their Haunted Mansion attraction, which featured singing three-dimensional busts.

[8] Another early example of projection mapping was in the 1967 TV movie Magical Mystery Tour during the Blue Jay Way scene, where images were projected onto George Harrison, including a cat's face and a headless male torso with the words "Magical Mystical Boy" written on its chest.

The film's images were digitally pre-distorted to map correctly onto the sphere from the high projection angle in the Booth theater.

Due to the scale and brightness some projects require, often large arrays of powerful projectors are combined into a single image through a method known as "edge blending" or "stacking".

[18] Large companies such as Nokia, Samsung, Unilever Pakistan, Pakistan Tobacco company, Bank Alfalah, Brighto Paints, Benson & Hedges, John Players Gold Leaf and BMW have since used video projections in marketing campaigns in cities across the world, commonly using mapping techniques to project scenes onto the sides of buildings.

Common techniques for these performances include 3D mapping and 3D projection to create the illusion of depth, as well as motion, such as crumbling buildings.

[24] Artists may use it as an avant garde form of expression as it is new technology that can turn their creative ideas into 3D projections, connecting with audiences in a new way.

In Holiday Magic, Remember... Dreams Come True, Happily Ever After[30] and most recently Sunset Seasons Greetings at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

When Paul Oakenfold became the first DJ to perform live at Stonehenge, projection mapping was used to transform the prehistoric monument into a spectacular light show.

[31] To avoid damage to the ancient stones, only 50 of Oakenfold's close friends were invited, and were required to wear noise-cancelling headphones to hear the music above the nearby A303 road.