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
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
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
The laser graffiti article spawned lots of discussion on the ILDA and Laserist mailing lists. More information and highlights after the break…
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There is an article in the current issue of Time Magazine, about using laser “pointers” to write graffiti on building walls. The article is especially interesting because of the prominence of Time Magazine, and the detailed treatment of the subject of laser projections.
On a breezy November night, Yan etches Chinese characters across most of the side of City Hall. They read “Save Queen’s Pier” (an ironic appeal on behalf of a now demolished landmark), and the reason he can write them with impunity is because they are drawn using a laser pointer in high-intensity light — not spray paint. By standing on the roof of a parking lot across the street, he also avoids any danger of trespassing. When he’s done, Yan erases the words by clicking a button on the laser pointer, connected to a laptop and projector at his feet. He then moves on to tag other prominent buildings, including the city’s Cultural Centre.
The system used by MC Yan is known as L.A.S.E.R. Tag and is a creation of the Graffiti Research Lab (GRL), a New York City art group founded in 2005 to outfit the world’s street artists with innovative, open-source technology.
The complete article is online at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1691618,00.html.
