TDC – Technical Direction Company powered 11 major installations across Sydney this season, while also debuting its own AI-driven interactive artwork at the festival for the first time.
Australian production technology specialist TDC – Technical Direction Company marked its 15th year at Vivid Sydney 2026 with a new creative milestone. Alongside powering large-scale projection mapping across 11 landmark sites, TDC stepped in front of the curtain with The Daydream Machine – an AI-powered interactive installation that transformed Darling Harbour’s Pier Street Underpass into a responsive, ever-shifting digital environment.
The work was created by TDC’s Harrison Dow and Alex Rendell alongside Drew Ferors. Rather than reacting to visitors in a fixed way, the installation read body language, posture and movement in real time, producing a unique visual output for every person who passed through it. Dow described the premise simply: ‘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.’
For TDC founder Michael Hassett, the project reflected a broader shift in how the industry uses technology. ‘For years technology has been used to support artistic ideas,’ he said. ‘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.’
Beyond The Daydream Machine, TDC’s projection and LED infrastructure underpinned some of the festival’s most prominent works. These included Lighting of the Sails: Opera Mundi by French artist Yann Nguema on the Sydney Opera House sails, and Vaiola – a large-scale projection on memory and migration by Samoan-Australian artist Angela Tiatia at the Museum of Contemporary Art. LiDAR scanning was used ahead of the festival to build accurate digital replicas of Garrison Church and the Argyle Cut, allowing artists to design and test their work remotely before arriving on site.
The operational scale was considerable. TDC ran 547 million projected pixels across Sydney each night, delivered more than 1.45 million ANSI lumens of projection brightness, and supported 23 consecutive nights of operation via a central master control system monitoring 13 cameras and 11 automation systems. Barco ultra-high-resolution laser projectors covered nine projection-mapped sites, with ROE LED tiles driving interactive elements including The Daydream Machine.
Vivid Sydney 2026 ran from 22 May to 13 June, owned and produced by Destination NSW.
Images: TDC
