Laser harp used by pop singer in NYC performance

The New York Times had a short article about a singer who uses lasers, including a laser harp, in her performance. The singer is “Little Boots”, the stage name of Victoria Hesketh, who is “clearly an expert in a certain kind of space-glam, technological camp.”

New York Times writer Ben Ratiff noted in the March 3 2010 article that she played the laser harp on “her song ‘Earthquake’ by moving her hand among the streams of light; each time she blocked one, it triggered a synthesizer pitch, and she could alter its tone by lowering or raising her hand on each beam.’Earthquake’ isn’t much of a song, but that was a beautiful display. It made you feel light. ‘I’m basically obsessed with lasers,’ she admitted, chattily, when the song was done.

There are more pictures at a website called Brooklyn Vegan; scroll down to the bottom for most of the laser pics.

Tech blog Gizmodo was not impressed: “I just don’t get it. Let’s just stick with the normal instruments, shall we?”

 

400 watts of lasers back The Who, during Super Bowl XLIV halftime show

From the ILDA “Member Shows and Projects” page:

Lasers featured prominently in one of the most-watched events of the year, Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. On February 7, 106.5 million U.S. television viewers saw The Who perform at halftime, backed by over 400 watts of laser beams from 16 sources on the field and in the stage. The lasers were produced by Laser Design Productions of Markham, Ontario and Las Vegas, who had only 8 minutes to set up their equipment.

Fourteen Pangolin laser control cards were networked under the main stage. Eight full-color lasers were positioned on the field. Eight additional lasers including four 50-watt YAGs and four full-color air-cooled lasers were located upstage of the New Orleans Saints’ bench.

Click for larger image

The show was programmed by Doug Adams and Jason McEachern at LDP’s Markham, Ontario office using Light Converse previsualization software. The initial laser effects were designed as a “classic green laser look” reminiscent of The Who’s pioneering 1970’s laser shows. Later, full color lasers transitioned into purple, red, white, blue and amber/brown, choreographed with the standard stage lighting.

For much more detailed information, download Laser Design Productions’ Super Bowl press release. (Photo credit: Touchdown Entertainment Inc./Brad Duns.)

 

Using laser pointers to distract soccer players

A report from the Italian paper Corriere Della Sera states that, in a football (soccer) match last Wednesday Feb. 6 2008, one or more green laser pointers were aimed at players in order to disrupt their performance. A Babelfish translation states “at least three players of the national German [team], engaged to Vienna against Austria, have been puttinges in the view-finder from the tribunes with rather powerful a green beam …. The torture to the German soccers player is then continued for a good part of the contest”.

Apparently this is not new for soccer. The paper describes past attacks such as Dec. 1 (2007?) when there was “damage to the forward of the Chelsea Didier Drogba,” and an attack in a match in Naples. But “the Austrian episode is but the most meaningful and worrisome.” The concern comes from the strength of these laser pointers, which can be “twenty or thirty more powerful times” than “the laser that in the life every day … make[s] to drive crazy the house cat.” Instead, it is “related… with the gunlayers laser mounts to you on the guns of some armies”.

It does not appear from the story that there is a crackdown on laser interference, although I am sure that some steps will be taken. Players, officials and leagues — to say nothing of fans — must realize that this is at best, unfair sportsmanship, and at worst, potentially dangerous (both as an example of unsafe laser use, and inherently as a bright light deliberately aimed at the eyes).

Thanks to Alberto Kellner of Laser Entertainment srl in Milan, who sent me the link to the original Feb. 9 2008 newspaper story.

 

Note from a somewhat grumpy laser show fan

Not sure how I feel about this one… A blogger named Kevin writes at length about the Roger Chaffee planetarium in Grand Rapids. He seems to enjoy their laser shows such as Pink Floyd and Led Zep, although they also play “crappy music like Radiohead and Creed.”

This particular blog post is about the planetarium’s upcoming plans for a Rush laser show. He had approached the planetarium in the past with some ideas, but now that there is a show planned, they don’t seem to have used his ideas:

Why does it scare me? Because the “person” in charge of the production is frickin’ 20-something years old!! He doesn’t even like the music. How is he qualified to pick what songs should be used? I’m afraid he’s just going to go for the popular ones, like Tom Sawyer, Spirit of Radio, and Closer to the Heart. Those are great songs, but probably not the best for a laser light show.

I found Kevin’s post interesting. It’s nice to see some discussion about planetariums, and some thought about laser show content. Not being a Rush fan myself, I couldn’t say if Kevin’s song choices are more appropriate artistically or commercially than those chosen by the planetarium. If anyone reading this attends the Chaffee’s Rush laser show, let me know what you think in the comments.

 

The Laserpod

In my last post I talked about artist Chris Levine’s portraits of Queen Elizabeth. I should also note that Levine is the creator of the Laserpod, a decorative lighting device using lasers. There are different versions of housings; here is one of them:

From the Laserpod website: “The product uses three electronic lasers and three blue and purple LEDs … chosen by the inventor so that the combination of their wavelengths as a background to the red lasers gives a super sensory experience.” The new Laserpod Supernova includes a green laser in addition to the three red lasers.

Laserpod comes with diffusers which go on top of the cylinder, to create an ambient lamp. Of course, most laserists would remove the diffusers to create a mini-lightshow on walls or ceiling:

Pricing seems reasonable for an artist-created laser lighting device: USD $60 for the least-costly units, and $199 for the Supernova with one green/three red lasers plus 3 LEDs. If you are interested, check out the Laserpod website.

 

Laser Queen Elizabeth

In 2003, artist Chris Levine photographed Queen Elizabeth II in preparation for making a holographic stereogram. This involved rotating a camera around Her Majesty and making about 200 photos, each from a slightly different angle. Later, vertical slices of each photo were assembled into a single white-light viewable hologram. Since each eye sees the subject from a slightly different angle, the image looks 3D in the horizontal direction — you can move your head from side to side to see “around” the subject.

Levine had the technical ability to create a direct laser hologram of Her Majesty, but chose not to for two reasons. The Queen would have had to visit his studio (the stereogram photos were shot at Buckingham Palace), and there were also safety concerns about lasers being used on the Queen.

Levine has since gone on to create additional artworks, based on the 2003 sittings. One of these uses lasers through a crystal to make abstract light patterns on an outline of the Queen.

There is a detailed story about Levine’s work with the Queen, and his resulting artworks, from the Daily Telegraph (U.K.). The story also has links to videos of his holographic and “laser queen” works.

If you’ll be in London between March 14-23 2008, you can see Levine’s Lightness of Being, described by one critic as “the greatest portrait yet of Elizabeth II”. It will be exhibited along with related works from Levine’s royal sessions, at StolenSpace. The gallery also has for sale lenticular prints signed by the artist for £975.

 

Laser arcade of the future comes true

The eye-catching photo below was published in 1985 to illustrate what future arcade games might be like. The lasers were set up by a technician at Laser Images Inc. (the company founded by Ivan Dryer, inventor of Laserium® planetarium shows and arguably the father of the laser show industry).

I’m not sure why the boy is wearing a helmet, or how the lasers enhance his game (especially since most are behind him) but it is a great photo!

It reminds me of a real-life laser arcade game. At the November 2007 IAAPA convention in Orlando, the company Funovation presented their “Laser Maze Challenge” game:

The game involves trying to get through a maze, similar to those seen in caper movies like 1999’s Entrapment, where the heroine has to wiggle her way around lasers:

The Funovation booth at IAAPA was very popular. It was a timed run; you had to get through the laser maze as fast as possible without tripping a beam. It definitely was challenging. I didn’t do it myself, not being as lithe as Catherine Zeta-Jones. My 10-year-old son Patrick did run the maze. He was pretty fast although of course he didn’t have as much body to get in the way.

Later I spoke with the Funovation people about laser safety. I do not think their IAAPA booth was certified, although it was clear they took safety seriously. For example, breaking a beam would stop that laser’s emission. It will be interesting to see if they do get FDA/CDRH approval for usage in the United States.

Links and credits:

The 1985 laser arcade simulation photo is from the Paleo-Future blog, which has more details.

The Laser Maze Challenge game is described in more detail at Funovation’s website.

The Entrapment image is from CeskyPooh’s blog.

 

Laser graphics at weddings: “the latest trend” in Egypt

An article in the December 2007 BusinessTodayEgypt quotes ILDA Member Yousri El-Gazar, of Laseronics Middle East, on high-end weddings in Egypt:

Along with the creative decorations and locations come the laser and light shows. El-Gazar explains that laser shows are becoming more popular than ever, used as decorations, part of the zeffa and, later in the night, as dance floor essentials. “Laser graphic shows are the latest trends, accompanied by fireworks and pyrotechnic effects like flames,” he says.

http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7795

 

Home laser product: miJam iPod/laser projector

Back in the Reagan administration, we put a small mirror fragment on a balloon stretched over a speaker, and bounced a He-Ne beam off of it. Although the resulting laser show was kind of cheesy, it did have the advantage of automatically following the music, leaving one’s hands free for other activities.

Now this exact same quasi-Lissajous effect is availble in a Sharper Image-type gadget, the miJam Laser Light Show. It is a spherical iPod player with a red “laser show” of the mirror-on-a-membrane type. According to the ad, it “conforms to all applicable international standards for safety.”

The website has a dealer list which in the U.S. includes Best Buy, Toys R’ Us, Target, Wal-Mart, Sharper Imge, Hammacher Schlemmer and other major retailers. So if you want one to put under the tree for that loved one (or that patient one), hopefully you can find a miJam laser projector in your hometown. For more information, and an animated demo that will bring you back to the 1980’s, visit http://www.b2stuf.com/main/product_detail_laser.htm

 

Laser show: “Peter Pan” with laser Tinkerbell

The Theater Royal Nottingham is presenting a new version of “Peter Pan”, from 7 Dec. 2007 to 20 Jan. 2008, which features a laser Tinkerbell. One reviewer wrote:

Everything about the show is fresh and sparkling, with a feel-good factor that comes from lashings of colour, warmth and energy…. The flying sequences and settings are magic, there are classic sword fights, and a laser Tinkerbell fragments into scatterings of light and sound.

http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/19122/peter-pan