Red Bull has staged a snowboarding event attracting some of the world’s best riders and utilising “extreme projectionâ€. Melbourne based installation artists, ENESS headed 9,000 feet up the Mammoth Mountain resort in California to create a staggering display, incorporating a giant inflatable sphere, that the snowboarders and skiers jumped over. A camera tracked the riders so an eyeball, projected onto the sphere, watched them take the leap.
ENESS, was started by friends Nimrod and Stephen, and specialises in interactive design. Prior to the Red Bull off the Planet event the duo were already experimenting with projections and snow in, rather surprisingly, their native Australia.
The company managed to hang a 21 foot inflatable sphere between the two sides of the jump, a feat that proved challenging when the weather was turbulent. ENESS’ proprietary software allowed the creators to map 3D visuals onto the snowy terrain and riders tracked via an infrared camera.
It took ENESS two weeks to create content that comprised between eight and ten individual scenes. Three 15,000 lumen Sony XF47 projectors fired onto the snowy backdrop and two PS3 modified cameras were used to track the riders. Content was controlled via an iPad.
Red Bull Off the planet from ENESS on Vimeo.