The Daydream Machine: Inside TDC’s Creative Technology After Dark at Vivid Sydney 2026
For more than 15 years, TDC – Technical Direction Company has helped bring Vivid Sydney’s biggest artworks to life through unforgettable large-scale projection and technology experiences for millions of Sydneysiders and visitors.
At Vivid Sydney 2026, as well as powering 11 installations with the most advanced projection and LED display technology, the company stepped into the spotlight itself with The Daydream Machine, an AI-powered interactive installation by creative technologist Harrison Dow, Alex Rendell and Drew Ferors that transformed Darling Harbour’s Pier Street Underpass into a living digital artwork.
Harrison Dow:
the work explores how emerging technology is giving artists entirely new ways to create public experiences and connect audiences with works. “Using AI systems and live rendering, the installation reacts and evolves with every person who walks through it, creating an experience that is constantly changing and never behaves the same way twice.
Vivid Sydney Festival Director Brett Sheehy AO said interactive works like The Daydream Machine were central to how audiences experienced the festival:
Vivid Sydney invites people to participate in creativity and interactive installations like The Daydream Machine, which place visitors at the heart of the artwork. By harnessing cutting-edge technologies such as AI, this work creates ever-changing experiences that encourage exploration, play and imagination.
TDC’s advanced technology also underpins projections across the Vivid Light Walk, illustrating how innovation continues to shape Vivid Sydney by unlocking new possibilities for artists and seamlessly bringing together creative vision and technical expertise.
Michael Hassett, TDC Founder :
The project marked a significant creative shift for the company and wider industry. “For years technology has been used to support artistic ideas. What we’re now seeing is technology becoming a creative tool for artists and storytellers. It’s responsive, intelligent and capable of creating completely new forms of audience interaction.
Bringing Technology to Life
Beyond The Daydream Machine, TDC technology powered 11 major projections across beloved landmarks and heritage locations throughout Circular Quay, The Rocks, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour during Vivid Sydney 2026.
Highlights include Lighting of the Sails: Opera Mundi by French artist Yann Nguema across the iconic Sydney Opera House sails:
Vaiola, a large-scale projection exploring memory, migration and belonging by Samoan-Australian artist Angela Tiatia and Spinifex Group at the Museum of Contemporary Art; Fringe of Infinity by Spanish artist Javier Riera at Customs House with geometric patterns inspired by mathematics in nature; Time: Warped, combining laser, light, sound and projection through the Argyle Cut with ER Productions; Deep Time by Spain’s Hotaru Visual Guerrilla, transforming Garrison Church into a journey through Earth’s 4.54-billion-year ecological evolution; and, Circles of Rhythm at ASN Clocktower where Spinifex Group creates pulsating patterns of music, movement and connection.
Afterimage: A Projection Mapped Mural at Tumbalong Park was spray-painted live by Sofles in collaboration with US artist Chaske Haverkos, while As Water Falls by Canada’s Studio Irregular transformed a monolithic LED cube into an interactive digital waterfall at Circular Quay. Across the curvature of Barangaroo House, New Zealand artist David Morton’s Laniakea explores humanity’s place within the vast cosmic web.
Reliability at Scale
Throughout Vivid Sydney, TDC’s central master control system provided real-time oversight across installations throughout the city, and helping deliver a seamless audience experience.
Each year, TDC reviews and updates digital site models for selected locations to improve projection outcomes and make the creative development process more accessible for artists.
How some of Vivid Sydney’s projections were built before the lights turned on using LiDAR scanning One of the lesser-known technologies behind Vivid Sydney is LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning. Ahead of the festival, TDC rescanned both Garrison Church and the Argyle Cut using advanced LiDAR technology, creating highly accurate digital replicas of the sites.
These digital models were then converted into projection-ready environments, allowing artists anywhere in the world to design, test and refine their works against Sydney’s architecture long before arriving on site.
Drew Ferors, Head of Innovation and Training at TDC:
The process helps artists better understand scale, surfaces, proportions and architectural details while significantly reducing development time and increasing projection accuracy.
Creative technologist and TDC Technical Project Manager Alex Rendell:
Vivid Sydney required an expert team working behind the scenes in the months leading up to the festival. “What audiences experience on nights walking around the city takes months of collaboration between Vivid Sydney, individual artists and the team at TDC.
Our role is bringing all those creative and technical systems together, from advanced Projection and LED systems through to media servers, TDC Live View monitoring and interactive technologies, so the artwork can come seamlessly to life for everyone’s enjoyment.
Look at the Numbers: TDC at Vivid Sydney 2026
TDC powered 11 technically ambitious projections across Sydney, including:
- Barco ultra-high-resolution laser projectors across nine projection-mapped sites
- ROE LED tiles powering interactive experiences including The Daydream Machine and 547 million projected pixels illuminating Sydney landmarks each night, which is enough digital content resolution to fill more than 65 4K televisions running simultaneously
- More than 1.45 million ANSI lumens of projection brightness roughly equivalent to over 1,800 household LED light bulbs
- 13 live monitoring cameras and 1
- 1 automation systems supporting nightly operations
- Advanced LiDAR scanning used to digitally recreate Garrison Church and the Argyle Cut for artists before arriving on site Real-time AI, water-screen projection, LED environments and high-powered laser systems
- 23 consecutive nights of operation supporting millions of festival visitors
From artist-led AI-generated storytelling to sensory environments incorporating projection and interactive LED experiences, TDC’s Vivid Sydney 2026 deployment demonstrated how technology continues to transform the way audiences experience art, culture and public spaces beyond the festival itself.
Vivid Sydney 2026 ran from 22 May to 13 June as Australia’s largest festival of light, music, ideas and food, owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW.
Season Details
Venue: Vivid Sydney
Date: 22 May to 13 June 2026
For more information click HERE
