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being a lighting choreographer. At first, I was doing this all by myself. I created everything, programmed everything, then wore it and danced with it myself. That led to me launching my career as a media artist and becoming very active. While I continued in that direction, videos of my performances started to gain traction and lots of enquiries, both domestic and international, started to come through from different artists. At that time, I became an assistant professor at a university, teaching about interactive art. With all of this happening, I was still gaining more interest from artists wanting to incorporate my tech into other shows and collaborations. That’s when I finally made the decision to turn it into a service by building a company: MPLUSPLUS. Pixel-perfect synchronisation plays such an important role in what you do. Can you talk us through how MPLUSPLUS’s technology works? Being a dancer myself has had such a significant impact on perfecting this technology. As a dancer, I know what syncs best when creating choreography. Usually, with other lighting set-ups, there are sensors that transmit the signal afterwards. Essentially, when you move, the sensor catches that and then lights up, with a small delay. But MPLUSPLUS’s system, both in terms of the hardware and software, is all developed in-house, so it’s able to sync up straight away. Whether we use 100 devices or 1000, it will still sync instantly. Even if signal stops in the middle of a performance, seamless from the point of triggering. When it comes to LED control devices, the examples typically found in indoor spaces are big. But the LED control devices we’re using are each smaller than a piece of chewing gum, which makes a huge impact in terms of weight and overall effect on the wearables. The ability to create both the hardware and software ourselves is so important for achieving what we do. It gives us that flexibility to incorporate it into an array of wearable devices that don’t disrupt the performer’s movement. due to frequency disruptions for example, the lighting will remain
The LEDs we use are each smaller than a piece of chewing gum, which makes a huge impact in terms of weight and overall effect on the wearables
Could you break down your process when approached by a new client? Whenever we get offers or enquiries, we first try to get as many details as we can, which then allows us to create a CG rendering. This gives our clients as accurate a visualisation of the final look as possible. For example, if the client’s environment is within a football stadium, we’ll in turn recreate that entire stadium in CG, but then incorporate our products for the clients to see. That way, they can get an understanding of what the show will look like, and with that comes our ability to offer customised products. Anything like that will be briefed in within the early
stages – after that it’s simply a case of creating the hardware. For bigger shows, there’s also the lighting and other dance elements to incorporate. So we communicate with all the teams involved to make sure that synchronised lighting programming for the entire show is sorted out. MPLUSPLUS has seen a few viral moments, including that of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour LED dress. Where did this idea originate? There’s a Japanese fashion brand called Anrealage that has always been very innovative – incorporating a lot of new technologies into their fashion shows. This year, we got an enquiry that they wanted to incorporate something that includes light – something very new and cutting edge. That’s where our first ideas surrounding a full LED dress came about. From LED suitcases to swirling technical ribbons – MPLUSPLUS now offers a suite of LED wearables and accessories. Can you take us through some of these products? When I started MPLUSPLUS, the main initial service was offering lighting choreography for dancers – this actually reached a point where I directed 100 lighting dancers in one stadium. It was at this point that I thought sticking to just LED costumes and dancers wouldn’t allow the business to grow – especially since Japan is also a small market.
WATCH ME See how MPLUSPLUS took on America’s Got Talent competitors
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