Each September, downtown Binghamton, New York, transforms into a dazzling outdoor gallery as the LUMA Projection Arts Festival lights up historic facades with spectacular 3D projection mapping. Behind the scenes: Dataton’s WATCHOUT multi-display system and North American partner, Show Sage.
The brainchild of a street photographer, a film editor, and an event planner, LUMA has grown into one of North America’s premier projection arts festivals. The eleventh festival in 2025 once again attracted over 20,000 visitors keen to experience the intersection of art and technology.
Buildings as storytellers
LUMA is all about cohesive storytelling, with an international array of specially invited creators. With shows tailored precisely to their architectural canvases, each building becomes both stage and storyteller — a feat of imagination that captivates audiences of all ages.
In the wings, there’s a sophisticated technical infrastructure making it all happen. Buildings are 3D scanned and content selected. Shows are programmed using Dataton WATCHOUT and displayed using high-brightness Panasonic projectors. Add a pro audio system and Binghamton’s architecture comes to life.
The festival is free to attend and relies on a strong base of volunteers with skills in projection, audio and rigging. Dataton’s North American partner, Show Sage, has supported LUMA since the early days, providing WATCHOUT media servers, programming expertise, and on-site technical assistance.
Why WATCHOUT?
“Given that the crew is 100% volunteer-driven, it’s essential that the mapping programming interface is familiar from year to year and easy enough to grasp with minimal training,” explains Crystal Lee, Show Sage, on site at the 2024 and 2025 events. “WATCHOUT accomplishes this and more. And now, the crew is so versed in playback on WATCHOUT they map most of the sites without help from Show Sage’s media server specialists!
“What’s more, to keep the crew up to speed, there is a WATCHOUT system on hand year round at the LUMA office. Members of the crew can come in and map onto a scale model to refresh their skills at anytime leading up to the festival.”
Festival Co-Founder Tice Lerner concludes, “Every year we challenge ourselves and our artist collaborators to push the boundaries of projection mapping — scale, interactivity, unique storytelling devices. WATCHOUT meets the demands of those challenges with ease.”
See you in 2026 in Binghamton!
