In its full form, a towering tripod suspends the radiant centrepiece 10 feet from the ground, allowing movement fully around and beneath it. Three stations surround the tripod with their own lights, speakers, and interactivity controls. The station controls currently include pushbuttons, rotary dials, and ultrasonic range detectors, with more interfaces in development.
Voxelite is designed not only to be interactive, but collaborative: animations are the work of the creator alongside a growing community of guest animators who contribute their unique visions to the light canvas. Programs are created in TouchDesigner, integrating the sensor inputs in distinct ways and controlling every single LED in the installation in real-time.
As a 2025 Burning Man Honoraria awardee, the project is engineered to overcome the unique challenges of outdoor art installations: free-standing construction, durability against the elements, and solar-ready operation. It has been built upon the successful foundation of a smaller prototype, one-seventh of the current size (2,877 LEDs), which validated both the technical approach and the excitement for volumetric displays.
The piece ultimately aims to create that rare and precious moment of discovery and the accompanying feeling of wonder and magic. With volumetric sculpture literally adding another dimension to lighting effects, Voxelite provides something novel, yet primal — a neoteric bonfire for the digital age.
Artist Biography
Tyler Soon is a Vancouver-based new media artist whose interactive installations blend technology with playful artistry, creating captivating, participatory experiences. Tyler’s recent works include Popstar, a whimsical 9-foot glowing popcorn stand, and the Voxelite series of volumetric light sculptures. The luminous pieces have been displayed at Burning Man, regional festivals, and Lumière YVR.
Links
▶ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tybotlabs
▶ Website: https://tybot.ca