Light of Dubai

An Immerisve Show Experience in Dubai.

Every evening, the stage on Bluewaters Island in Dubai transforms into an Every evening, the stage on Bluewaters Island in Dubai transforms into an audiovisual spectacle! Dance, music, lasers, and animations showcase Dubai’s evolution—from Bedouin settlements and pearl diving to futuristic visions.audiovisual spectacle! Dance, music, lasers, and animations showcase Dubai’s evolution—from Bedouin settlements and pearl diving to futuristic visions.

For the show, we designed and produced approximately 30 minutes of animations for various formats. At the heart of the production is a 15-meter-wide LED screen in an ultra-wide 5:1 aspect ratio. Behind it, a semi-transparent LED mesh allows the silhouette of Dubai to shine through. In some scenes, the dancers also use glow sticks as part of their choreography, for which we designed matching content. But how can we assess the impact of this interplay when the stage isn’t even built yet?

Taking the future audience’s perspective into account is an integral part of our development process: How does the show look from right in front of the stage? What elements are visible? How do lighting and colors affect the area in front of the stage? To answer all these questions early on, we developed a virtual twin of the stage in VR. This previsualization—combined with music and dialogue—supported us in meetings with the client and helped all trades visualize the project.

One of the show’s technical highlights is our interactive laser control system. During the performance, up to eight dancers can influence individual laser beams with their hand movements. To achieve this, we developed a second virtual model of the stage, the tracking system, and the laser projectors in advance—this allowed us to calibrate the laser beams on the actual stage with millimeter precision.

The final phase of the project began with the stage setup: Our animations had to prove themselves even in the heat of Dubai. Together with an international team on site, we tested the quality under real-world conditions and fine-tuned the mapping, color effects, and performance on the target hardware.