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Projection mapping, similar to video mapping and spatial augmented reality, is a projection technique[1][2] used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into display surfaces for video projection. The objects may be complex industrial landscapes, such as buildings, small indoor objects, or theatrical stages. Using specialized software, a two- or three-dimensional object is spatially mapped on the virtual program which mimics the real environment it is to be projected on. The software can then interact with a projector to fit any desired image onto the surface of that object.[3] The technique is used by artists and advertisers who can add extra dimensions, optical illusions, and notions of movement onto previously static objects. The video is commonly combined with or triggered by audio to create an audiovisual narrative. In recent years the technique has also been widely used in the context of cultural heritage, as it has proved to be an excellent edutainment[4] tool.
Although the term "projection mapping" is relatively new, the technique dates back to the mid-20th century. Josef Svoboda, a Czech scenographer, debuted Laterna Magika at Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World Fair.[5] Laterna Magika was a live performance that featured singers, dancers, and musicians performing against a backdrop of projected film footage. Günther Schneider-Siemssen was a German set designer, who coined the phrase, "painting with light.[6] He used Pani projectors to create large-scale projections for operas. In the late 1960s, audiences referred to projection mapping as, "the Madame Leota effect,[7]" based on the use of the technique in Disney's Haunted Mansion. Disneyland debuted a projection effect in 1969, when they opened their Haunted Mansion attraction, which featured singing three-dimensional busts. The singers' faces were filmed on 16mm film and projected onto busts of their faces to make the busts appear animated.[8] Another early example of projection mapping was in the 1967 TV movie Magical Mystery Tour during the "Blue Jay Way" scene, where images were projected onto George Harrison, including a cat's face and a headless male torso with the words "Magical Mystical Boy" written on its chest.[9]
The next record of projection mapping is from 1980, when installation artist Michael Naimark filmed people interacting with objects in a living room and then projected it in the room, creating illusions as if the people interacting with the objects were really there.[10][11]
In 1984 the Stephen Sondheim original Broadway production of Sunday in the Park With George, written and directed by James Lapine, was the first known use of projection mapping in a Broadway musical or play.[12] It was used at the end of Act II, in the Chromolume #7 special effects sequence designed by Bran Ferren[13] to project geometrically-correct moving cinematic images onto the surface of the 4' diameter sphere topping the Chromolume device. Due to the brightness limitations of video projection at the time, the images were projected using 7000w xenon-illuminated 35mm motion picture film (at 48 frames per second). The film's images were digitally pre-distorted to map correctly onto the sphere from the high projection angle in the Booth Theater.
The first time the concept of projection mapping was investigated academically[14] was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late 1990s, where a team led by Ramesh Raskar worked on a project called Office of the Future, to connect offices in different locations by projecting people into an office space as if they were really there.[15] By 2001, more artists began using projection mapping in artwork, and groups such as Microsoft began experimenting with it as a means of technological advancement.[citation needed]
After the object which will be projected on is chosen or created, software is used to map the corners of the video to the surfaces. First, one must choose the images or video to project. Each video is then placed on its designated surface. Alternatively, one may map the entire scene in 3D and attempt to project and mask the image back onto its framework. The next step is masking, using opacity templates to actually "mask" the exact shapes and positions of the different elements of the building or space of projection.
In 3D mapping, coordinates are defined for where the object is placed in relation to the projector. The projector's XYZ orientation, position, and lens specification result in a determined virtual scene.
Adjustments are commonly made by manually adjusting either the physical or virtual scene for best results. Large projectors with 20,000 lumens output or greater are used for large-scale projections such as on city skyscrapers. Due to the scale and brightness some projects require, often large arrays of powerful projectors are combined into a single image through a method known as "edge blending" or "stacking".[16] The result is a much brighter projection that maintains its seamless look. This technique is used for most large projection-mapping shows, and requires skill and patience to be set up with specialised software. For smaller productions, smaller, lower-output projectors are sufficient. In most cases, a 2200-lumen projector is adequate for projections under indoor light or theatrical lighting.
Projection mapping projects may involve both dedicated mapping software and general-purpose creative tools, such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. In modern practice, a wide range of specialized software is used, including commercial, paid platforms such as TouchDesigner and free or open-access tools such as Map Club, which vary in functionality, complexity, and intended use cases.[17]
Projection mapping can be separated into four categories:
Projection mapping first came to prominence through guerrilla advertising campaigns and video jockeys for electronic musicians.[18] Large companies such as Nokia, Samsung, Unilever Pakistan, Pakistan Tobacco company, Bank Alfalah, Brighto Paints, Benson & Hedges, John Players Gold Leaf and BMW have since used video projections in marketing campaigns in cities across the world, commonly using mapping techniques to project scenes onto the sides of buildings. Projection mapping can also be interactive: Nokia Ovi Maps did a project where projections mimicked people's movements.[19]
Projection mapping has been used at conferences as a means of decoration or immersing audience members in an experienced theme. Images can be projected onto a flat surface, or onto an unusual object such as a car or a chair. The festival Fête des Lumières in Lyon, a festival to honour the Virgin Mary, has recently incorporated 3D mapping in their productions, creating the illusion of a giant pinball machine on the side of a building. Common techniques for these performances include 3D mapping and 3D projection to create the illusion of depth, as well as motion, such as crumbling buildings.The use of projection mapping in TV and films is becoming more popular. For the science-fiction film Oblivion (2013), the filmmakers used projection mapping to create an immersive environment.[20] For a 2016 TV commercial, Audi used projection mapping to showcase the technology of the Audi Q7 car. The ad, "Projection of Greatness",[21] was filmed with no CGI and used only content that was caught live in camera.[22]
In the electronic dance music (EDM) community, it is becoming increasingly common for DJs to accompany their music with synced visuals, which can be either prerecorded or played live by a video jockey (VJ). Though normal projection screens are commonly used, some visual artists create special 3D installations to project onto.[23] Many EDM artists employ projection mapping techniques.
Visual artists also use projection mapping for creative expression, sometimes to enhance existing creative media such as painting and drawing.[24] Artists may use it as an avant garde form of expression as it is new technology that can turn their creative ideas into 3D projections, connecting with audiences in a new way.[25] Video projections have appeared in urban centres such as New York City and London, where artists have used guerilla projections in public without any necessary approval. This way, artists can show their work in any location as anything and anywhere can be a canvas. Nearly 100 projectors, supplied by AV rental company Rentex for the 2025 Digital Graffiti Festival in Florida, were used by artists to project digital installations across nearly a mile of outdoor architecture.[26] In France, Rencontres Audiovisuelles launched the Video Mapping Festival in 2018. Dedicated to projection mapping, the festival takes place in Lille and other cities across the Hauts-de-France region.[27]
Often people also use it as a means of activism; the group Occupy Wall Street used it to project onto the Verizon Wireless building in New York City as a means to visually spread the word that Occupy Wall Street is still alive.[28] The Japanese theatre play Mysteries of Yoshitsune I&II (2012–14) by Gackt is notable for the first major use of projection mapping in Japanese theatre stage play.[29][30][31]
Projection mapping is frequently used by Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Creative Entertainment in the Disney Parks. Examples include The Magic, the Memories and You, Disney Dreams!, Celebrate the Magic, Once Upon a Time, Disneyland Forever, Halloween Screams, Believe... In Holiday Magic, Remember... Dreams Come True, Happily Ever After[32] and most recently Sunset Seasons Greetings at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
When Paul Oakenfold became the first DJ to perform live at Stonehenge, projection mapping was used to transform the prehistoric monument into a spectacular light show.[33] To avoid damage to the ancient stones, only 50 of Oakenfold's close friends were invited, and were required to wear noise-cancelling headphones to hear the music above the nearby A303 road.
Projection mapping has also been used as a way to highlight political and social causes by groups such as Greenpeace and Led By Donkeys.[34][35] The White Cliffs of Dover are frequently used to project messages of protest,[36][37] support[38] and memorials.[39] In addition, Gota-Go campaigners used projection mapping to light up the President's office in Sri Lanka[40]
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Projection mapping, similar to video mapping and spatial augmented reality, is a projection technique used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into display surfaces for video projection. The objects may be complex industrial landscapes, such as buildings, small indoor objects, or theatrical stages. Using specialized software, a two- or three-dimensional object is spatially mapped on the virtual program which mimics the real environment it is to be projected on. The software can then interact with a projector to fit any desired image onto the surface of that object. The technique is used by artists and advertisers who can add extra dimensions, optical illusions, and notions of movement onto previously static objects. The video is commonly combined with or triggered by audio to create an audiovisual narrative. In recent years the technique has also been widely used in the context of cultural heritage, as it has proved to be an excellent edutainment tool.
The Mercator projection () is a conformal cylindrical map projection first presented by Flemish geographer and mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in 1569. In the 18th century, it became the standard map projection for navigation due to its property of representing rhumb lines as straight lines. When applied to world maps, the Mercator projection inflates the size of lands the farther they are from the equator. Therefore, landmasses such as Greenland and Antarctica appear far larger than they actually are relative to landmasses near the equator. Its use for maps other than marine charts declined throughout the 20th century, but resurged in the 21st century due to characteristics favorable for online mapping.
In cartography, a map projection is any of a broad set of transformations employed to represent the curved two-dimensional surface of a globe on a plane. In a map projection, coordinates, often expressed as latitude and longitude, of locations from the surface of the globe are transformed to coordinates on a plane. Projection is a necessary step in creating a two-dimensional map and is one of the essential elements of cartography. All projections of a sphere to a plane necessarily distort the surface in some way. Depending on the purpose of the map, some distortions are acceptable and others are not; therefore, different map projections exist in order to preserve some properties of the sphere-like body at the expense of other properties. The study of map projections is primarily about the characterization of their distortions. There is no limit to the number of possible map projections. More generally, projections are considered in several fields of pure mathematics, including differential geometry, projective geometry, and manifolds. However, the term map projection refers specifically to a cartographic projection. Despite the name's literal meaning, projection is not limited to perspective projections, such as those resulting from casting a shadow on a screen, or the rectilinear image produced by a pinhole camera on a flat film plate. Rather, any mathematical function that transforms coordinates from the curved surface distinctly and smoothly to the plane is a projection. Few projections in practical use are perspective. Most of this article assumes that the surface to be mapped is that of a sphere. The Earth and other large celestial bodies are generally better modeled as oblate spheroids, whereas small objects such as asteroids often have irregular shapes. The surfaces of planetary bodies can be mapped even if they are too irregular to be modeled well with a sphere or ellipsoid. The most well-known map projection is the Mercator projection. This map projection has the property of being conformal. However, it has been criticized throughout the 20th century for enlarging regions farther from the equator and its use for maps other than marine charts declined throughout the 20th century, but resurged in the 21st century due to characteristics favorable for online mapping. To contrast, equal-area projections such as the Sinusoidal projection and the Gall–Peters projection show the correct sizes of countries relative to each other, but distort angles. The National Geographic Society and most atlases favor map projections that compromise between area and angular distortion, such as the Robinson projection and the Winkel tripel projection. In September 2026, the United Nations resolved to recognize the distortions inherent to the Mercator projection and promote equal-area map projections, and in particular the Equal Earth projection, with 164 countries voting in favor. The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution; six abstained.
The transverse Mercator projection (TM) is an adaptation of the standard Mercator projection for transverse aspect. The TM is widely used in national and international mapping systems around the world, including the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM). When paired with a suitable geodetic datum, the transverse Mercator delivers high accuracy in zones less than a few degrees in east-west extent.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
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