SKOLKOVO MBA student Edward Khamaza: 3D projection as a new art form

We are offering you an amazing performance that brightened a Town Day in Kazan – a 3D projection show onto the building. This performance was prepared by Edward Khamaza, MBA SKOLKOVO student (first intake). An interview with Edward Khamaza about his project is coming soon!

We are offering you an amazing performance that brightened a Town Day in Kazan – a 3D projection show onto the building of the Tatar Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
The best of all would be to see that type of show live, of course, but we are confident that a camera view won’t mar general effect.
You might have heard about 3D projections onto buildings, but it’s the first experience of that kind in Russia.

This performance was prepared by Edward Khamaza, MBA SKOLKOVO student (first intake). We suggest you watching a video first, and then reading an interview with Edward.

- Edward, how long have you been making projection shows?
- As regards production of 3D projections onto buildings, I didn’t start it until this year. It had occurred to me before, but while I studied, I wished to implement it.

- What was it that encouraged you during your studies at the School?
- At SKOLKOVO I found time for creative work and got eager to do something I had had no time for, when I did business at my company Smart&Bright Lighting. While studying, I managed to get beyond the limit, show a freedom of thought, let loose creativity to make something new. The atmosphere is appropriate: an entrepreneurial spirit at the School cannot but encourage you in experiments.

- Is there any connection between the area of projection shows and your company?
- A new company is called Smart&Bright Production. My company Smart&Bright Lighting is engaged in design and light design of architectural and indoor lighting at a highly professional level. We offer our customers interesting, non-typical but at the same time functional and economically sound solutions. So there is no direct connection. But my partners took part in implementing the first project and are supporting me now.


- Can you tell us in detail how Smart&Bright Lighting was created?
- Before Smart&Bright I had several start-ups that were a failure. To be more precise, there were two of them, one was related to creating a broker company, and the other was related to establishing a distribution company engaged in innovative electronic devices. By the way, I was one of those promoting USB sticks and external memories with a hard disk. As I remember, the first memory stick was 16MB and I had to say that its advantage was that it would replace a 3.5’’ floppy disk and could easily be put in any pocket. It was very convenient, though it had one drawback: in order to install drivers on a computer, one should carry a floppy disk with the drivers together with a USB stick.

Then an economic recession happened in the country, I was unable to go on developing my start-up and found a job with a company that imported expensive and modern lighting fittings from Europe and sold them. After I worked there for two years, I understood that there was an interesting and large niche of architectural lighting and light design in the market of light equipment. I started creating Smart&Bright Lighting. The company grew and developed and served as the basis for the “structure” – production of modern office and architectural lighting fittings using LED techniques and energy-saving equipment. It is at Smart&Bright Lighting where our team first got involved in 3D technologies in order to visualize our solutions in presentations made for our customers. It gave birth to a new idea of combining architectural light and 3D technologies. Of course, Europe got ahead in this, that’s why I decided to undertake to actively develop these technologies in Russia.

- How did the Kazan administration find you?
- I suggested my idea to a lot of people, showing them what can be done and what is implemented in other countries. The entertainment management of Kazan became interested – they were preparing a Town Day in Kazan at that very moment. Since they like everything new and interesting in Kazan and try to be the first to apply it, my idea was approved. In fact, that was the way the first Russian 3D projection onto a building and a breathtaking 3D show were launched.

- Are 3D shows widely spread abroad? Do you communicate with your colleagues engaged in similar projects? Do you adopt any experience?
- This area is actively developing now. For instance, along with our performance in Kazan a similar project was prepared in Kharkov at the same time. I should say however that impartially we are strikingly different as regards a final result. We didn’t merely use 3D effects in our project; we elaborated an entire concept and built a bright plot. Besides, we applied two new technological solutions which no one had taken risk implementing before. Firstly, we made a projection from three points rather than from one or two points, each point sent an independent projection, with all of them being synchronized. This allowed viewers to see a 3D effect from different angles. They didn’t have to stand still during the whole show, they could easily move without losing the thread of the performance. Secondly, we applied an inner perspective. We extended the building deep into and made it move inside.

Another important thing is that our 3D projection onto buildings is the longest one in the world today. It lasts 9 minutes and 45 seconds. A projection is usually made not to exceed 6-7 minutes.
Of course, we cooperate and work with different specialists from various countries. There are few of them so far, and we know most of them – in Argentina, Spain, Holland, Germany and England. We plan to involve some of them in our further projects.

- What do you think are prospects of such projection shows?
- I’m sure that there is a great interest in such kind of shows. It’s not just a show, after all, but a new type of advertising and a way to draw attention. The opportunities for development and application of technologies are rather great. The next step is to add an interactive element allowing viewers to change an image or get engaged in the projection. We reflect on it now.
Generally, I think that a 3D projection onto buildings and items is a new art form, and I want to contribute to it, for instance, by establishing a Russian school with its own style.

- Now the last question. MBA students have a start-up module now. Is your start-up project related to your companies, a projection show?
- No, it isn’t. I’m working over another start-up.


P.S.: If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Edward by Edward.Khamaza@smartbright.ru