MSG Ventures

OBSCURA

Obscura partnered with Vornado Realty Trust and architecture firm Valerio Dewalt Train Associates to design and implement a permanent projection system to illuminate theMART building in Chicago with large-scale visual artistry on a nightly basis. 34 4k30 Boxer projectors cast over 1 million lumens of light on the building’s 2.5 acre façade, making this the largest permanent projection system in the world. It will feature 2-hour projection shows 5 nights a week, 10 months of the year for 30 years.

For “Art on theMART”, Obscura designed and created a software-driven platform that allows theMART to curate an ongoing exhibition of imagery from celebrated artists, keeping the illuminations fresh, timely and engaging. It includes a variety of custom filters and visual effects, allowing the curatorial team to present selected imagery with dynamic animations.

Art on theMART was launched in a grand opening ceremony on the evening of September 29, 2018, featuring original content from Obscura’s award-winning media team and four curated international artists, including Diana Thater, Zheng Chongbin, Jason Salavon and Jan Tichy. The event was attended by over 30,000 people and garnered national media attention.

The Spectacle at MGM Cotai

“Windows of the World” at the MGM Cotai Spectacle atrium is Obscura’s largest and most ambitious project to date. We created over 26TB of media that will play 24/7 on a massive 25-screen LED array spanning the atrium’s 900-meter perimeter — the world’s largest area of permanent LED screens. The result is an immersive artistic environment that redefines the idea of public art as a shared virtual reality experience.

The Spectacle both inspires and defines the new age of China, evoking a sense of the future through creative modern reinterpretations of Chinese tradition. Artworks connect with local culture and expand in widening spheres, furthering MGM’s mission of bringing the world to China and China to the world. Dedicated to discovery, understanding, and bringing the world together, the project’s themes of nature, art, music, language, and culture inspire guests to see the world in a different way.

Obscura’s legacy of crafting brilliant visual illusions finds new expression in the Spectacle media program. Using a combination of special techniques, filming approaches, and processing treatments, we blur the boundaries between the real world and the virtual world. Art pieces defy the imagination and suspend disbelief, playing on ideas of form, movement, and time, all brought to life through unprecedented feats of new technology.

Obscura’s 2018 Winter Party

Obscura’s annual Winter Party is renowned for being one doozy of a shindig. Not only is it a showcase for the incredibly talented performers in our network, it’s also an opportunity for Obscura’s artists and technologists to show off their skills. Nearly everything that’s on display is created for the event, based on our chosen theme. This year’s was “Blade Runner: A Futuristic Vision”, and our team created some amazing animations and interactive experiences for it.

While past parties have seen curveballs like a projection-mapped petting zoo (no sheep were hurt in the process), interactive floors, and a mechanical bull, this year’s saw no shortage of surprises, including Taiko drummers, live-mixed audiovisual performances, acapella opera singers, aerialists, and stunning immersive projections that filled out the space.

The Obscura crew has deep roots in throwing large scale events, a dedication to high production values, and an amazing network of creative people, so it’s no surprise that the Winter Party has become a must-see Bay Area event. Obscura’s production team works for weeks to transform our headquarters into a magical environment for the night.

Transparent LCD

Transparent LCD (T-LCD) screens are glass displays whose backing and light source have been removed. Instead of generating light, they require an external light source such as the sun to see the displayed images. Obscura creates cutting-edge media specifically for T-LCD screens, where the world beyond shines through and intermingles with the media to create dynamic multi-level animations, akin to digital stained glass.

When motion sensors and RFIDs are introduced into the system, the multi-level animation experience becomes an interactive augmented reality display. The media can be made to react and respond to the viewer’s position, movements, and even interests, as well as the natural environment (sun location, brightness, time of day, vehicles passing, etc.).

With multiple layers of animation and interactive potential, these installations offer a unique, dynamic and breathtaking media experience in a small installation, and especially when executed at scale. With T-LCD, architecture can now live, breathe, and be an active player in its own right, blurring the lines between interior and exterior reality.

eGlass

eGlass (aka “switchable glass”) is glass whose light transmission properties are altered when voltage is applied: it’s transparent when electrically charged, and opaque when not. When eGlass panels are segmented and arranged into a grid, a window becomes a pane of individually-addressable “pixels”. Obscura can programmatically animate these pixels and project media onto the opaque panes, creating an integrated multi-level animation — with the natural environment beyond being a layer in its own right.

When we introduce motion sensors and RFIDs into the system, the multi-level animation experience becomes interactive. The pixels and the media can be made to react and respond to both the viewer’s position and movements, as well as the natural environment (sun location, brightness, time of day, vehicles passing, etc.).

Obscura has perfected a large-scale manufacturing process for 4’x8′ and larger laminated eGlass panels, allowing us to provide clients with eGlass installations at scale. With multiple layers of animation potential to play with, these types of installations offer a unique, dynamic and breathtaking media experience.

Salesforce

Salesforce approached Obscura with the opportunity to create imaginative media for the 108’ long LED video wall in the lobby of their flagship San Francisco office. Our creative teams worked closely together to envision and produce work that transforms a passageway into a mesmerizing hyperreal environment.

From capturing California’s Redwood National Forest in stunning 12K resolution, to a designing a convincing CG waterwall and more – we held nothing back in striving to impart a sense of wonder to everyone that enters the building.

The display contains over 7 million pixels and is the longest continuous 4mm LED screen in the United states. The wall has reached over 50 million views on social media.

AT&T Stadium

In partnership with AT&T and the Dallas Cowboys, Obscura has reimagined the stadium experience, empowering fans with a groundbreaking new platform that enables them to amplify their collective spirit to unprecedented levels.

When the Cowboys took their field for the 2014 season, fans noticed something different about AT&T Stadium: The AT&T LiveFX Board. This 130-foot, high-resolution LED display is 3,840 pixels wide, with 40 robotic louvers that rotate 360 degrees and are equipped with high-powered strobe lights.

At pivotal moments during game play, fans receive a call-to-action from the Cowboys show controller via the AT&T Stadium App, which when activated, transforms their phones into portable light shows.
This experience unlocks a new dimension of collective fan participation. Fans are no longer passive spectators but members of the extended team, receiving cues that mobilize them to unite.
The AT&T LiveFX Board helps make touchdown celebrations more exciting, entertains fans during breaks, builds suspense for pivotal plays, and more.

Obscura also designed and installed four doublesided, 84-inch interactive Immersive Columns on the stadium’s east concourse. Each column features large-scale, interactive multi-touch displays on either side. With a few swipes of the hand, fans can learn about their team and interact with media curated into four themes: Cowboys Players, Cowboys Cheerleaders, Stadium Architecture, and Stadium Art.
Thanks to AT&T’s network strength, the AT&T LiveFX Board is the first stadium LED display built to respond directly to the fans. The platform introduces an experience that truly mobilizes fans.

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