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Watching this mind-bending projection mapping demo will melt your brain

Mixed Reality - THEORIZ - RnD test 002
What do you get when you cross some cutting-edge tech with the world’s most terrifying bad acid trip? Probably something like the setup created by French creative studio Theoriz. Using its proprietary tech, Theoriz staged a mind-bending demonstration of a “mixed reality room,” in which users eschew bulky virtual reality headsets in place of some clever motion-tracking video projection technology. The result is an impressive demo of a room that appears to respond in various crazy ways to a person walking around.

In terms of tech, the demo involves Theoriz’s in-house Augmenta tracking system, combined with Vive VR tracking technology. The creators of the above video are keen to point out that the tech demo is entirely real-time projection mapping, with no post-production trickiness.

“We are currently developing a set of technologies aiming at providing new creative techniques for audiovisual production,” David-Alexandre Chanel, co-founder of the studio and the artist and engineer behind the technology, told Digital Trends. “We think that by changing the content creation process, we can open new creative possibilities and achieve unprecedented kind of visuals. This demo is the result of us starting to play with the creative possibility of the system for the first time. We are also using cheap equipment for this test and are in the process of shooting a more professional dance video soon.”

While it is definitely not going to have exactly the same uses as virtual reality, it is still a pretty awesome tech showcase that we could imagine finding a good home in theme parks and other settings. Oh, and did we mention how trippy it all looks?

“For now, we are providing the system and our creativity as a service,” Chanel said. “We are also developing the software and hardware during that time and it might be commercialized at some point, but it’s not a priority for us.”

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Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
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