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Obscura Digital is a creative studio located in the Dogpatch District of San Francisco, CA.
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Combining innovative technology with creative expression, Obscura designs and develops immersive, interactive digital art installations and experiences around the world. Obscura works with Fortune 100 companies, cultural dignitaries, and global foundations to communicate transformative messages using original content for emerging technologies. Obscura specializes in custom video content, large scale interactive displays, architectural installations, kinetic sculpture, stage shows, and projection mapping that turns nearly any surface into a video screen.
Obscura is best known for first-of-its-kind, large-scale projection mapping events on St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and the Empire State Building in 2015, in conjunction with the film Racing Extinction. The Empire State Building project was named Modern Met’s Top 15 Most Remarkable Art Installations and (combined with the Vatican event) achieved 5.4 billion media impressions globally. CNN partnered with Obscura to project real-time election results, maps, images of seminal moments in American History, and photos from the campaign trail on the south façade of the Empire State Building during CNN's 2016 election night coverage, ultimately calling the race for a new President of the United States of America.
Other notable work includes permanent installations such as the LiveFX Board at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, the 52-foot RFID-triggered wall at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and the immersive LED wall in the Salesforce office building lobby at 50 Fremont Street in San Francisco.
History
Travis Threlkel and Chris Lejeune founded the company in 2000 with a seed loan from Rodger Raderman, and they assembled a small team to work out of a South of Market warehouse. Today, Obscura employs a team of over 70 artists, technologists, builders, and strategists, working in three main categories: live events, installations, and experimental technologies with tangible prototypes.
Key Projects and Collaborations
Temporary installations and projection events:
2016 - CNN Election Night Projections on Empire State Building
2016 - Qasr Al Hosn Festival
2016 - Pier 70 Super Bowl Concert Series featuring Dave Matthews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Run DMC and Snoop Dog
2016 - Visa Super Bowl Skyline Projections
2016 - #BeAModelMan / Representation Project
2015 - Vatican “Fiat Lux: Illuminating Our Common Home”
2015 - Oceanic Preservation Society “Projecting Change: Empire State Building”
2015 - NASA planetarium shows: International Space Station and Journey to Mars
2015 - UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebration
2015 - Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well Concerts
2015 - San Francisco’s City Hall Centennial Celebration
2015 - Brandcast US & UK
2015 - YouTube Creators’ Summit
2015 - Kuwait Towers: 54th National Day
2014 - IllUmiNations: United Nations People’s March
2014 - Tesla Guerilla Projections for Racing Extinction
2014 - AHA! Cleveland
2013 - Exploratorium
2012 - Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque UAE National Day Celebration
2012 - Nike Hyper Elite Platinum Launch
2011 - YouTube Sydney Opera House
2011 - Coca Cola 125th Anniversary Celebration
2011 - Facebook F8 Connections
2010 - YouTube Play Guggenheim Museum
Permanent installations and interactive walls:
2016 - Salesforce SF headquarters lobby wall
2015 - Shantou University Sports Arena
2015 - Bloomberg San Francisco Tech office: Light Volume
2015 - Dubai 360 Sphere
2015 - UNESCO 70th Celebration Interactive Wall
2014 - AT&T/Dallas Stadium’s Live FX Board & Immersive Columns
2014 - College Football Hall of Fame
2014 - Tishman Speyer LUMINA
2013 - Diageo Johnnie Walker
2013 - America’s Cup / Flying on Water
2012 - Westfield Illuminique Under the Dome
2012 - San Francisco Public Utilities District
2011 - Yahoo Bus Stop Derby