Transparent Screens, Projection Mapping and the Future of Live Visual Production — Ben Sheppee at the PRG Ideas Exchange

In October 2018, shortly after Observatory's formal founding, Ben Sheppee was invited to speak at the PRG Ideas Exchange — a speaker series designed to bring the most creative minds in the events industry together for genuine conversation about the future of live production.

The full PRG write-up of Ben's talk is available here: PRG Ideas Exchange — Ben Sheppee of Observatory London (October 2018).

The Observable Philosophy

At the heart of Ben's PRG talk was a framing that still defines how Observatory approaches every project: "We pride ourselves on being informed creative architects in this ever-evolving technical world. We develop concepts, aesthetics and sometimes combine technologies to deliver new experiences."

The phrase "informed creative architects" matters. Not just creators — architects. People who understand structure, who can read a space, who know how the technical and the aesthetic interact, and who have the knowledge base to make choices that are both creatively right and technically sound. That's always been the Observatory ambition.

What's Coming Next: Transparent Screens and Moving Projection

Even in 2018, Ben was pointing towards technologies that have since become central to live production. The next breakthrough in the field is likely to be about "technology moving more and becoming transparent, or at least more seamlessly integrated into objects and set design." That prediction has proved remarkably accurate — the transparent LED pyramids at the heart of Jamiroquai's Heels of Steel show in 2025 are exactly the kind of technology Ben was anticipating in 2018.

On projection mapping, Ben pointed to Miley Cyrus's use of Black Trax for a "moving projection mapping piece" — and suggested that this style of work was "still fairly new territory" but likely to "gain a lot of ground over the next few years." Again, that prediction has aged well.

From Art School to the PRG Ideas Exchange

Ben's career origin story — which he told at the PRG event — remains one of our favourite ways to understand how Observatory came to exist. Ben's career started with slide projections in nightclubs, whilst he was at Art School in London. He was tasked with blending seven to eight projectors to create collages as backdrops for bands. From that starting point, through Lightrhythm Visuals in San Francisco, and into Observatory — the thread of curiosity and craft runs unbroken.

Source: PRG Ideas Exchange — Ben Sheppee of Observatory London, October 2018.