PixMob

PixMob is a wireless lighting technology that controls wearable LED devices. By transforming the wearable objects into pixels, the crowd becomes a display. The light effects produced by the LED devices can be controlled to match a light show, pulsate in sync with the music, react to the body movement, etc. PixMob was developed by a Montreal-based company named Eski Inc. in 2010. The technology comes in different versions that provide different ways to wirelessly control any of the objects. The latest version, PixMob VIDEO, debuted during the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show.[1][2][3]

Technology

PixMob technology uses infrared to light up RGB LEDs that are embedded in different objects such as balls or wristbands.[1] These wearable objects are given to an audience, transforming each individual into a pixel during the show.[2] To light up each pixel (i.e. each LED), commands are sent from computers to transmitters that emit invisible light (infrared).[1] The infrared signal is picked up by infrared receivers in each object and goes through a tiny 8-bit microprocessor to light up the LEDs. The type of transmitter involved differs depending of the version of the technology chosen. Wash fixtures or lekos, typically seen in the live entertainment industry, are usually used. For the PixMob video technology, VT transmitters beam video instructions onto the audience, almost like a matrix creating a virtual map. With this technology, the infrared receiver decodes the signal differently depending on each pixel/person’s location. This enables the creation of animated video effects and transforms the audience into a display screen.[2] Despite the low-resolution result due to a low number of pixels, quite detailed video effects can be achieved on a large canvas, using bright colors and bold movements.[3]

Uses

Microsoft Kinect Launch

The technology debuted at the Microsoft Kinect Launch in June 2010, where white satin ponchos embedded with wirelessly-controlled LEDs were used to integrate the audience into the show.[4]

Arcade Fire – Coachella 2011

In 2011, Montreal’s Arcade Fire used PixMob balls during their encore performance of “Wake Up” at Coachella Festival. The project, entitled Summer Into Dust, was sponsored by The Creators Project and produced by Radical Media.[5] This was made possible due to Arcade Fire, Chris Milk, Moment Factory and Tangible Interaction. More than 1,250 glowing balls were dropped from the stage onto the audience.[6] They contained battery-powered circuit boards studded with full-color LEDs that changed colors in unison, thanks to built-in infrared receivers and microphones.[7]

Tiësto

Tiësto used PixMob wristbands for his 2014 residency at Hakkasan .[8] During the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show, he tweeted that he would use the video technology for the February 28 show at Hakkasan Las Vegas Restaurant and Nightclub.[9]

Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show

PixMob launched their video version of the technology at the 2014 Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show.[10] Each spectator received a black knitted hat called a ‘’video ski hat’’ embedded with 3 LEDs and an infrared receiver. Just before the show, spectators were asked to put on their hats and remain seated to form a huge display. Wearing the video ski hats, each spectator became a pixel in a giant human screen composed of 80,000 pixels. Touchdown Entertainment, the company that produced the event, claimed it was "the largest ever LED screen".[11] The spectators saw different kinds of visuals effects including a Pepsi logo moving around the stadium as well as images of the live Red Hot Chili Peppers’ performance and fireworks display.[10][12]

Microsoft Xbox E3 2015

Microsoft issued Pixmob pendants bearing the Xbox logo on neck-lanyard style ribbons to attendees of the Xbox presentation at the 2015 E3 convention.

Videotron Centre opening

Quebecor Media utilized Pixmob bracelets during the opening ceremony of Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec, September 12, 2015.

Cleveland Cavaliers 2015 Home Opener

The Cleveland Cavaliers provided each fan with a customized Pixmob bracelet during their home opener against the Miami Heat at the Quicken Loans Arena on October 30, 2015. The bracelet were used in a patriotic display during the national anthem and through the game.

Target - Star Wars Galactic Experience - LA Live

The event Target in LA Live in the Galaxy Show Dome, families took a virtual adventure through space as they watched a light show projected on the ceiling, featuring favorite characters’ portraits rendered in stars, with X-Wings and TIE Fighters zooming in and out of lightspeed. Visitors received special bracelets that lit up and interacted with the visuals and music.

World Masters Games 2017 Auckland

The opening ceremony of the 2017 World Masters Games in Auckland, New Zealand, used PixMob wrist bands as part of the light show. The bands also lit in different colours to signify when each sporting group was due to leave their seats and join the parade.

American Idol Finale 2018

Each studio audience member of the 2018 American Idol Finale was given a PixMob wrist band for a colored lighting effect. The colors were arranged in rows and lit accordingly. This included a multi-color glow while a duet performance of “Rainbow Connection” between winner Maddie Poppe and Kermit the Frog played onstage.

Inspirations

Several sources of inspiration for the technology have been given by its inventors, David Parent and Vincent Leclerc, in interviews: the use of lighters in concerts, the Burning Man festival, fire rituals, as well as the large human screens made from crowd members holding placards in Korea. The co-founders explain that their goal is to augment the collective experience of being part of a show.[13]

References
  1. Zach Sokol (March 21, 2014) PixMob: Turning Crowds Into Light Canvases The Creators Project
  2. Jackson Gallagher (February 5, 2014)How 82,529 Hats Became a Video Screen For Super Bowl XLVIII Live Design Online
  3. Liz Stinson (February 5, 2014)How 80,000 People Became a Human Video Screen at the Super Bowl Wired
  4. Chris Kohler (June 14, 2010)Console Games kinect Project Natal Microsoft Throws Glitzy Coming-Out Bash for Kinect at E3 Wired
  5. The Creators Projects, Summer Into Dust project (April 2011)Arcade Fire and Chris Milk The Creators Project
  6. PLSN Newsroom (April 2011)Glowing Spheres Serve as LED Pixels at Arcade Fire's Coachella Show Projections, Light and Staging News
  7. Kevin Jordan (April 17, 2011)Arcade Fire Glowing Ball drop at Coachella 2011 I Dream In Code
  8. Mike Walkusky (February 27, 2014) Tiësto To Provide Hakkasan Crowd With PixMob's Innovative LED Wristbands EDM
  9. Tiësto (February 2, 2014) How amazing was the human video screen... Twitter
  10. Lisa Wright (February 2, 2014)Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show lit up courtesy of Canadian tuques The Toronto Star
  11. Kirsten Fleming (January 30, 2014)Why this year’s halftime show will be first of its kind New York Post
  12. Tina Robinson (February 3, 2014)How Montreal-based PixMob turned the Super Bowl audience into art Yahoo! News Canada
  13. Zach Sokol (March 21, 2014) PixMob: Turning Crowds Into Light Canvases The Creators Project
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