For the 75th anniversary of the Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam, a laser tag experience was built in the basement of the Maassilo as part of the Volume 75 event. Within this project, I contributed to designing, building, and live operating the technical experience behind the laser tag.
In the weeks leading up to the event, I contributed to discussions and decisions within the XI team about the systems we would use to operate the laser game.
Together with a teammate, I began setting up Velocity, the system used to centrally control cues and actions. As part of that process, I created a driver for the CueCore3, enabling us to control lighting via MIDI.
Later in the project, I focused primarily on the scoring system and how to display it. The laser game equipment only delivered scores afterwards in PDF format, making a direct live connection impossible.
To display live scores regardless, I built a custom web-based scoring solution: SiloScore. This system shows the current standings on the screen in the Maassilo and stores all teams and scores in a database. Initially a RSS-based solution was considered, but it quickly became clear that an HTML setup with a database was far more flexible and visually stronger.
An API was later added, allowing other teams to retrieve the scores and use them within their own systems.
SiloScore ran on its own subdomain and was displayed on the Maassilo screen via BrightSign players. BrightSign is a signage system designed for reliable content playback in live environments. This allowed the scoreboard to refresh automatically and run stably throughout the event without any manual intervention.
During the setup and the event itself, I had a varied, hands-on role. I helped with setting up and adjusting equipment, running and extending cabling, starting and monitoring virtual machines, and resolving last-minute issues on location.
This ranged from technical configuration to simple but necessary fixes when standard mounting or placement did not work out. I also coordinated on location with other teams to ensure they had access to systems such as the scoreboard and its associated data.
Within XI there was no designated leader, but by mutual agreement I regularly made decisions on behalf of the team when needed.
The project involved many last-minute changes and inter-departmental dependencies, making the ability to switch gears quickly and think practically more important than following a fixed plan. Working under those conditions; building something, adapting it and keeping it running live, is precisely what made this project both valuable and educational.
Photography: Roos van Kins, Manon Spruyt, the_lynn_lenss, Nikita van Hengel, Mitch Jogchem