ILDA Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.