February 9, 2022
3 min read
Downtown San Francisco was the pulse of the city that drew a consistent stream of workers, residents and visitors daily. Pre-pandemic, commuters streamed into the city center every day for work while tourists and residents explored iconic experiences – such as the trolley cars and delicious food. However, that number has now declined as offices transition to fully remote or hybrid cultures. In an effort to reinvigorate the central business district, Downtown SF partnered with Panasonic and A3 Visual to create the inaugural projection mapping event, Let’s Glow SF, to attract visitors to the downtown area and support the local businesses for a week in December 2021. The event resulted in a 36,000 bump in foot traffic throughout the Financial District, as compared to 10 days prior, and over $2 million in economic impact locally.
In order to create a more vibrant, active downtown, Let’s Glow SF worked with local and international visual artists – including Mindscape Studio, SPECTRE LAB and Amandalynn– to create intricate visuals projected onto four iconic buildings, taking visitors on a walking tour throughout the Financial District. A3 Visual Solutions and Downton SF deployed 18 Panasonic high-brightness, high-resolution PT-RQ35K 3-Chip DLP® SOLID SHINE 4K Laser Projectors to deliver stunning, eye-catching visuals immersing attendees at the center of the action.
“To put on an extensive projection mapping event like this, we needed high performing, extremely reliable projection technology to deliver vibrant, colorful and immersive scenes,” shared Sean Mason, chief technology officer at A3 Visual. “Panasonic’s powerful 4K projection technology enabled the artists to bring their creative visions to life across the downtown San Francisco buildings.”
To execute the perfect event, Let’s Glow SF needed projection technology that would be easy to manage and control and wouldn’t require a lot of maintenance. Panasonic’s PT-RQ35K projectors offered the perfect solution by providing 30,000lm of high brightness and 4K resolution quality in a compact, lightweight design, which made it exceptionally easy to blend the projectors into the city surroundings. The high-quality images and crisp colors allowed for the visuals to be clearly projected onto the curves and crevices of the buildings. These projectors also revolutionize event operation with Near Field Communications (NFC) technology which simplified workflows with mobile access to manage basic setup functions without turning on the projector. With the Remote Preview function, the content signal can be checked remotely, removing the need to be at each of the four locations. Panasonic’s laser projectors are built for reliability and provided uninterrupted projections throughout the entire Let’s Glow SF event.
“Our goal for Let’s Glow SF was to support the local business community by bringing visitors back to the Financial District and encourage them to make a night of it by enjoying the immersive visual displays and staying for dinner at their favorite local restaurant,” shared Robbie Silver, executive director of Downtown SF. “Panasonic’s projectors enabled our team to create a spectacular visual event that encouraged San Franciscans to see downtown in a different light.”
