We’ve got a couple videos below of lighting display projects in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and Lyon, France. The first is a 3D projection mapping that just recently started going viral on Facebook. The surreal projection used the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building as a backdrop for a show on 8/24/10 to celebrate the city’s anniversary and Independence Day. Hey, that’s six weeks too late for an Independence Day show, says the guy who thinks all countries celebrate holidays the same.
The second video was taken at the Théâtre des Célestins in Lyon, France. Carol Martin and Thibaut Berbezier of CT Light Concept created “Urban Flipper”, another light mapping project that uses aspects of the building’s facade as the bumpers, kickers, and targets of a playable pinball game. A set of buttons near the projector lets visitors play the game. Although it isn’t the only time we’ve seen a video game played on the side of a building, this does have the best colors and sound effects. It was likely a hit at the Lyon Festival of Lights, unlike the festive lions petting tent we set up there. Our tent was surprisingly unpopular, probably because we forgot to light the interior. Also, the lions weren’t particularly festive after all the drinks we had on the plane ride, but what could we do? They insisted on the booze after they found out Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was the in-flight movie. They told me anthropomorphizing animals like that is très gauche.