Sydney Opera House ‘From the Sails: Light Years’

From the Sails: Light Years, commissioned by Sydney Opera House to kick-off its 50th anniversary year, captures the history of the iconic building and honors the land on which it sits. The result: a 17-minute audio-visual spectacle designed to run as a continuous loop and projection-mapped onto the building's western facade—the 'Sails'—each evening from October 19-30, 2022.

A magical experience using live audio-visual synchronization technology enveloped audiences in the musical narrative and storytelling—without downloading an app. One scan of a QR code and anyone anywhere could tune into the visual spectacle and listen from their device.

From the earliest stories of the First Nations owners to its ongoing contributions to the Sydney community, the critical challenge was creating a film that captured the spirit of a place central to the Australian cultural landscape. The accompanying soundtrack played a significant role in the film's storytelling, featuring an original score and numerous historical sound bites.

Bringing an artistic and curatorial lens to the project, we emphasized significant moments across the past 50 years but with elements of delight and abstraction that spoke to a creative future for the Australian community. We ensured the film encompassed diverse artists and eras, bringing the footage and images together in a sequence that would flow seamlessly across the Sails.

The sails provided an extraordinary canvas for visual expression that people could view across vast areas—from the waterfront and on boats in the Circular Quay to the rooftop bars and restaurants of The Rocks precinct and even the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But, given the number of locations to view the film, one critical issue arose: How could viewers listen to the film's audio precisely in sync with the visuals and with minimal fuss?

To enable anyone, anywhere, to listen while watching the performance on the Sails, we adapted our live audio-visual synchronization technology to work over the web. The solution is low-friction, device-agnostic and scalable, with minimal latency and water-tight security. Altogether, we created an audio-visual experience that enabled perfectly synched audio for performances at a distance.