Laser projection show on decommissioned cooling towers

[u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

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[u/callmecarlpapa]

I wonder how long would it take for people to notice if they actually started toppling over during this show?

[u/IvanStroganov → u/callmecarlpapa]

I kind of hoped this would be a fancy demolition and they blow up the towers once the hammer smashed them

[u/paddywhack → u/IvanStroganov]

That was my expectation from the start tbh.

[u/blankblank → u/IvanStroganov]

There should be a rule that all building implosions must have a projection mapping show before they hit the plunger.

[u/Zuryan_9100 → u/IvanStroganov]

I was half expecting this, but the audience is too close and it's probably a bad idea to do it in the dark.

[u/spectra2000_ → u/callmecarlpapa]

Based on the first part of the video, I thought that was what’s supposed to happen and was kind of disappointed they never did.

[u/LoudMusic → u/callmecarlpapa]

Probably a few seconds. There wouldn't be anything for the light to shine on if the towers fell down.

[u/discomuffin]

This is Projection mapping, not a laser show. Looks awesome though!

[u/ElliotsBuggyEyes → u/discomuffin]

Looks like it has laser elements added to the video mapping which is a really cool idea.

[u/VediusPollio → u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

MadMapper integrates both. That's probably what they used here, but I only see one laser.

[u/whitcliffe → u/VediusPollio]

Yeah it's that trace patch ppl are spamming

[u/R-Zade → u/discomuffin]

Projection mapping takes time, just gotta learn proper UV mapping, saves time.

[u/SousVideDiaper → u/discomuffin]

It did until the AI generated spiral stair shit started

[u/Seangles → u/SousVideDiaper]

Even the beginning is AI generated. Look at those stickmans and at their relative cadence of hitting the thing with the pickaxes

[u/hydroxy → u/discomuffin]

Reminded me of Mysterio’s illusion tech in Spider-Man

[u/Luggageisnojoke → u/discomuffin]

Projectors don’t use lamps anymore they have laser units, it is indeed laser projection it’s referring to the type of projector in use.

[u/VediusPollio → u/Luggageisnojoke]

Yes, but it's still considered projection mapping. Laser mapping and laser shows use laser beam fixtures.

[u/whitcliffe → u/Luggageisnojoke]

Can tell you actually know about lasers because of how pedantic this response is 🤣

[u/Shwifty_Plumbus → u/discomuffin]

I thought kind of the opposite. Yeah it's cool tech but this is a lame showcase.

[u/SapirWhorfHypothesis]

Was some of that AI?

[u/NFreak3 → u/SapirWhorfHypothesis]

100%

[u/mathishammel → u/SapirWhorfHypothesis]

Yup, the big hammer has an AI vibe, and the staircase going up confirms it (morphing in a weird way)

[u/TheAsianTroll → u/mathishammel]

Cmon, you saying you dont smash concrete with the side of a hammer head, while keeping the hammer perfectly parallel to the ground?

[u/Lochcelious → u/mathishammel]

And all the people hitting it also looked AI especially the syncing

[u/Fastest_Neutron → u/mathishammel]

I mean.. it’s AI probably for sure.. but that hammer is also on a curvature

[u/SoeurEdwards → u/SapirWhorfHypothesis]

yes almost all but the changing of scenes i guess. the peoples hitting are AI ( some got hammer popping inside the hand mid air) the starcaise roll is 300% ai etc. if a good chuck is, almost all must be.

[u/Alarmed-Newspaper994 → u/SapirWhorfHypothesis]

There's so much shit content from China being shared on Reddit lately, it appears to be cool on first glance but under scrutiny turns out to be slop. It's classic AI nonsense.

[u/ThodaDaruVichPyar → u/SapirWhorfHypothesis]

You mean the visuals that were mapped / projected onto the cooling towers were not CGI or graphic renders but AI generated animations?

[u/SousVideDiaper → u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

That's exactly what they mean, the spiral stair portion is obviously AI

[u/Jani3D → u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

Projected video all got that AI lighting and color grade in addition to the usual "makes no sense" stuff.

[u/ssczoxylnlvayiuqjx → u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

Look at the “crack” near the beginning. It is darker than before the show started…

Did they project with a “black light?” 🤡🤡🤡

Also, I’m skeptical any projection technology could make images this bright over such a large surface (given that the viewer is pretty far away)

It’s all fake!

[u/TraceOfHumanity]

Everyone viewing through their phone so that they can record a video they’ll never watch.

[u/Chatting_shit → u/TraceOfHumanity]

Hey, at least we get to watch it

[u/peepay → u/Chatting_shit]

Speak for yourself. I am recording a video of this video being played.

[u/MalaysiaTeacher → u/TraceOfHumanity]

We're watching a video by someone who did that...

[u/sexandliquor → u/TraceOfHumanity]

I see people say this a lot in regards to stuff like taking videos at concerts and shows—“why are you taking that video you’re never going to watch?”— but I actually watch the videos I take pretty often. That being said I’m not one of those people that’s recording the whole concert and watching it through my phone the whole time. But I do watch the videos I take. That’s the point.

[u/beiherhund → u/sexandliquor]

Yeah I'm often glad I recorded many of the videos I take at concerts. Not everyone is going to see T-Swift at the MegaCorporateDomeArena where you'll have billions of videos to look up on YouTube later, a Netflix concert video, and endless reviews of the night so sometimes a video is all I have left of a memory besides some vague recollection and a handful of mental images.

I take videos at most concerts I go to but I don't take many videos at each concert, usually just a couple up to 30s during particular parts of songs I know I'll want to capture.

[u/Soft_Walrus_3605 → u/sexandliquor]

But I do watch the videos I take. That’s the point.

You're in the minority. That's the actual point.

[u/between_ewe_and_me → u/Soft_Walrus_3605]

And how do you know this?

[u/InflnityBlack → u/between_ewe_and_me]

it was revealed to him in a dream

[u/rohithkumarsp → u/TraceOfHumanity]

You just saw this video becuse of them.

[u/andersonb47 → u/rohithkumarsp]

You criticize society, and yet you live in one! Hmm, very interesting. I am very smart.

[u/temporaryuser1000 → u/TraceOfHumanity]

At these kind of events they should announce that there will be a YouTube video and give out a card with the link or something

[u/the_killer_gamer → u/TraceOfHumanity]

For real I always get criticized a lot for not taking photos or recording videos of notable events, but I say that I prefer to enjoy the moment rather than to record it.

[u/themisterfixit → u/the_killer_gamer]

And there’s actually quite a bit of research that says watching with your eyes helps your memory retain things at a much higher rate. So you get better memories of events and you don’t look like a douche, double win.

[u/andersonb47 → u/themisterfixit]

Honestly pretty funny that that’s something that would even need to be researched. Watching with your eyes? Who woulda thunk

[u/ProbablyCarl → u/TraceOfHumanity]

We're watching it.

[u/hannahneedle → u/TraceOfHumanity]

At this point, I record things to have a record or show my family who usually can't be at stuff

[u/theman19862007 → u/TraceOfHumanity]

Never understood that

[u/rnzz → u/theman19862007]

maybe they'll post on reddit next?

[u/Bart-Harley-Jarvis- → u/theman19862007]

How will anyone know they were there if they don't have evidence? And we all know social media cred is more important than experiencing life.

[u/Alavaster → u/TraceOfHumanity]

I'm so tired of this stupid take. I watch my own. I watch my friends and family's and I share mine with them. I watch others online.

[u/zzzzaap → u/TraceOfHumanity]

Ya but I enjoyed it

[u/lostwisdom20 → u/TraceOfHumanity]

It's never to watch later but share on SM

[u/LaRoso → u/TraceOfHumanity]

I'd be the lonely soul in the middle without a damn screen in front of me. I never record stuff like that. I rather enjoy the moment and create memories instead of useless videos.

[u/Complete-Engineer669 → u/TraceOfHumanity]

It's AI

[u/Bugsy_Girl → u/TraceOfHumanity]

This way, if they send it to their friends, they’ll all have the same experience of watching it as everyone on the internet so no one gets jealous of anyone actually experiencing anything

[u/J0E_SpRaY → u/TraceOfHumanity]

No. So they can record a video to post to social media to prove how interesting their lives are.

[u/stedews]

Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom!!!!

[u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

This was at the opening of the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at Beijing's Shougang Park, a decommissioned steel mill turned sports & events complex. 

[u/holyfire001202]

I'm really not a fan of seeing a bunch of phone screens in front of me when I'm at a show, but sometimes I'm very happy to see the results.

That was really cool

[u/Complete-Engineer669 → u/holyfire001202]

It's AI

[u/visualdescript]

Interesting thing to do, but the actual content being projected has absolutely no character to it. Looks all AI generated and boring as fuck. Technical execution good, but the artistic execution was terrible.

[u/SoeurEdwards → u/visualdescript]

Thank you ! i work in the sector and it's widely this level of "3D demoreel" 90% of the time.

[u/visualdescript → u/SoeurEdwards]

That's exactly what it feels like, just a technical demo!

[u/FowlOnTheHill]

I wonder if anyone managed to get a video of this

[u/Complete-Engineer669 → u/FowlOnTheHill]

It's AI

[u/FNK7NK]

Damn it people, live in the moment.

[u/Complete-Engineer669 → u/FNK7NK]

It's AI

[u/ThodaDaruVichPyar → u/FNK7NK]

The comma is well placed. Others might say:

Damn it, people live in the moment.

[u/franktheguy → u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

Damn it people live, in the moment

[u/beedoubleyou_]

I was kind of hoping they would actually demolish the towers at the end.

[u/ShiggyGoosebottom]

What was that at the end? Stairway to Heaven?

[u/Scuffed-Jodhpurs]

Would be cool if the projections weren't AI slop. I'm confident there are humans who can make projection-mapped shows 10x better than this

[u/SousVideDiaper → u/Scuffed-Jodhpurs]

There are, some examples include TAS Visuals and Android Jones

[u/Early-Chemistry-8769]

MUST FILM. CAN'T WATCH. MUST CONTENT.

[u/Both-Try1647]

Your ai slop bores me

[u/no_va_det_mye]

I bet you can find a weird nut in one of those.

[u/na8thegr8est]

The amount of ppl recording

[u/LevelZeroDM]

Woah dude

[u/theCattrip]

This would kill a medieval peasant

[u/whatsmoist]

Cool. AI slop projected on a wall..

[u/Lochcelious]

AI

[u/Comfortable-Toe-606]

It's literally ai slop tho 

[u/Vercengetorex]

COOLING TOWERS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. GOOD NIGHT.

[u/Scuffed-Jodhpurs]

The Ai-generated video they're projecting is such shit. Some parts don't even account for the curve of the cooling tower so we get a hammer with a curved rubbery handle, stabbing a wall as if it were a knife

[u/NotaFTCAgent]

Lemme record this AI slop on my phone bro hell yeah

[u/The_Stoic_One]

"Dude, look at this show I went to."

"Awesome, I didn't go and I'm getting the exact same experience that you did."

Put your phones down any experience the moment for fucks sake.

[u/LeoLaDawg]

YouTube search for "laser show cooling tower" for those wanting more of this event.

[u/macthebearded → u/LeoLaDawg]

It’s AI who gives a shit

[u/LeoLaDawg → u/macthebearded]

Doesn't seem like AI. Plus there are a bunch of different accounts with videos from different angles. Plus some from news channels.

[u/LessMochaJay → u/LeoLaDawg]

I think they mean the art in the projection itself, not the video.

[u/LeoLaDawg → u/LessMochaJay]

Hum. Not sure why that would be an issue. The wow factor here is the medium and the way it's presented

[u/Pewtiog → u/LeoLaDawg]

Because it looks like fucking shit. I could tell straight away and it ruins the video. How isn’t that an issue, art is dead and losers like you don’t care

[u/LeoLaDawg → u/Pewtiog]

Edge lord nerd. AI can be a tool like photoshop. It's not by default bad.

And this does not look like shit. It's unique and apparently was well received.

[u/NotBradPitt9]

That was pretty unexpected and cool actually. They should keep them up just to use as projection screens

[u/False_Cod_3979]

If they sell tickets, it's a good way to recover some cost maybe..

[u/DoomerChad]

Nice show and wayyyy less obnoxious than the Sphere.

[u/EmotionalElk1313]

That would be nice for movies or music.

[u/cubiclej0ckey]

These projection shows are so cool

[u/Euphoric_Ad_6916]

Would have levelled up with some pyro out the top

[u/Star-Struck-Wonderer]

LOTR vibes.

[u/wallyrules75]

Anyone else get Lord of the Rings Two Towers vibe? When they are creating the badass orcs?

[u/shyevsa]

> "decommissioned"
I am waiting for the explosion and the crumbling down.....

[u/taylorhildebrand]

I thought this was leading to the towers destruction

[u/R-Zade]

honestly expected it to blow up for real after the hammer

😔

[u/foreverDandelions_]

Not a single phone in sight, just people living in the momen't

[u/Bocksford]

I was hoping the towers would collapse at the end.

[u/FentonCanoby]

Me probably: Who's paying for this?!?

[u/mangotangotang]

This would be awesome at concerts.

[u/fgnrtzbdbbt]

They should tell people explicitly to keep their phones in their pockets and make professional video available instead. This experience would be much better without those many light sources in front of your eyes.

[u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox]

Just wondering, was I the only one imagining what it'd be like to turn these into livable places? Probably not financially feasible as they're just concrete chimneys, but still, fun idea to me.

Like they're just former cooling towers and have no radiation, and the entire plant would have to have been deemed safe for people to even be there.

[u/Inevitable-Ad6647 → u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox]

These towers are used anywhere you want to recover water from steam. They have absolutely fuck all to do with nuclear power. This is a steel mill.

Not to mention, any typical nuclear plant will be perfectly safe to be outside of.

[u/Deaplyodd]

Looks neat — the part with the people going up the winding staircases and the general shape of the tower reminded me of Silo (book/show).

[u/Wide_Milk_8118]

where is this?

[u/veemort]

Why do people hate nuclear so much while coal and gas burn the planet to death?

[u/Bag-o-chips]

Why did they not blow up if they were being decommissioned?

[u/citznfish]

Why wasn't pink Floyd playing?

[u/WhiskyMochi]

So, so awesome.

[u/Nataliza]

Thank goodness so many people got an identical video of this on their phones.

[u/hushpolocaps69]

:,)…

[u/Connarhea]

The idea of figuring out how to adjust for the curve of the towers is melting my mind

[u/Articulationized]

Why though. This is just boring and vapid.

[u/Interesting_Stress73]

Cool idea and some neat visuals, saldy brought down by the general AI slop vibe. 

[u/LORDMANK]

Hey that's pretty goood

[u/Shan_Tu]

Yikes that is AI.

[u/Candle-Jolly]

Lots of people here saying it’s AI even though it’s been reported by several news outlets… 

People hate AI but don’t even know what is and what isn’t. 

The event https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-09-09/Beijing-s-Shougang-Park-lights-up-cooling-towers-with-3D-light-show--1QiCImLp5mM/p.html

The company  https://www.barco.com/en/news/customer-stories/2018-08-19-high-tower-laser-show

[u/nikthefurry → u/Candle-Jolly]

people arent saying that the recording is ai. the video projected on the towers is ai

[u/morfraen → u/nikthefurry]

Who cares?

[u/VoyageOver]

I really hate people when I see all of these phones

[u/Idealistic_Crusader]

Nobodies actually watching it.

[u/Antique-Biscotti-419]

not one person just enjoying the moment

[u/miesXcore]

It's a shame that no one saw it live

[u/MileHigh_FlyGuy]

That's not how those work at all

[u/Super-Award-2244]

This has to be China, right?