Bandit Installs Interactive Martin Light Show at River’s Edge Park

Every night, one hour after sunset across the Great Lawn at River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a special light show begins. Entitled “Rays,” the twelve-minute interactive light environment, designed by Dan Corson, was installed by Bandit Lites in conjunction with Visual Terrain and Beaudry Interactive.

Inspired by the designs of European gardens, and drawing upon the movement of Iowa’s own frozen rivers, artist Dan Corson applied the same kind of patterns to his design.

Bandit mounted eight Martin Professional Exterior 1200™ Image Projectors along the north wall and eight on the south, with each corner of the field containing a MAC III Profile in a Tempest enclosure to protect the fixture from the elements. Programmed on a Martin M2GO™ lighting console, playback is from a Martin MaxModule Cerebrum and MX Manager.

“On one of the poles, mounted between the Exterior 1200 fixtures, there is an infrared camera,” explains John Jenkinson, installation service specialist for Bandit Lites. “The camera identifies people in the field and then custom software tracks that person on the computer. The software converts that person into pan and tilt values for the lights. The computer and software translates what it sees on the camera and allows us to follow people around on the field, or make the lights interact with a person based on the fact that we know where in the field that individual person is.” Using infrared technology, Doppler radar detectors, custom tracking and interactive game software, the field can keep track up to 350 individuals.

Corson included four different interactive games for park attendees to play. When not in show mode, interactive components include radar detectors sensing motion and directing the lighting fixtures into the areas. When in show mode, two randomly selected games play for three or six minutes. A chasing rainbow of color alerts patrons that the games are starting.

“There were a lot of unknowns in this project, and Bandit was able to jump into the void with us, and not just trust that it was all going to work out, but also solve and troubleshoot as the needs arose,” Corson said.

Artist, Dan Corson of Corson Studios LLC, www.corsonart.com
Lighting designer Lisa Passamonte Green of Visual Terrain
Assistant designer Micahel Mahlum
Programming by Brad Haynes
Interactive Systems by David Beaudry
Installation and service specialist, John Jenkinson, Bandit Lites

Photo: John Jenkinson