Work for WET Design — Gautam Rangan

Immersive Media at WET Design

As the former Director of Immersive Media at WET Design, my role included coding, animation and building mock-ups with electronics for over 60 projects over the course of 8 years. Below are a few that are not under an NDA.

Immersive Media at WET Design

As the former Director of Immersive Media at WET Design, my role included coding, animation and building mock-ups with electronics for over 60 projects over the course of 8 years. Below are a few that are not under an NDA.

Game of Thrones at the Bellagio

This project was at the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, NV to announce the final season of Game of Thrones. Joel Bewley, Dan Walker and I built this show in a few weeks. My role was to create content alongside Joel and Dan, map the feature and assemble the final product.

The idea originated from Jim Doyle, who designed the projector assembly, handled the pyrotechnics and orchestrated the various teams that helped bring this project together.

This event was covered, live, by CNN, Fox, ABC, and other major news networks. It also appeared in Variety, Boing Boing and many other online publications.

Game of Thrones at the Bellagio

This project was at the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, NV to announce the final season of Game of Thrones. Joel Bewley, Dan Walker and I built this show in a few weeks. My role was to create content alongside Joel and Dan, map the feature and assemble the final product.

The idea originated from Jim Doyle, who designed the projector assembly, handled the pyrotechnics and orchestrated the various teams that helped bring this project together.

This event was covered, live, by CNN, Fox, ABC, and other major news networks. It also appeared in Variety, Boing Boing and many other online publications.

Strategizing with the brilliant founder and CEO of WET Design Mark Fuller

The revolutionary Surreal water feature opened in October 2021 for the World Expo in Dubai. I was instrumental in the creation of the technology and projection system that activates at night. My main contribution was the development of the infrared camera, projection, and water-tracking system alongside Isaiah Gernhardt, Scott Winslow, Jim Doyle, and Lachlan Turczan. I hold a patent with several others at WET for this system. Below you can see some early tests from a mockup in Los Angeles.

Surreal at Dubai Expo

Night view of the Seattle Central Library's exterior with colorful illuminated wavy facade

Children and adults playing near a large curved concrete or stone structure, climbing or exploring en masse.

An aerial view of a large urban shopping and entertainment complex with a central water feature that looks like a giant waterfall or water wall, surrounded by palm trees, walkways, and various shops and rides.

Surreal at Dubai Expo

The revolutionary Surreal water feature opened in October 2021 for the World Expo in Dubai. I was instrumental in the creation of the technology and projection system that activates at night. My main contribution was the development of the infrared camera, projection, and water-tracking system alongside Isaiah Gernhardt, Scott Winslow, Jim Doyle, and Lachlan Turczan. I hold a patent with several others at WET for this system. Below you can see some early tests from a mockup in Los Angeles.

Night view of a colorful, illuminated architectural structure with flowing, curved walls and vibrant lights, featuring a small sculpture with glowing neon shapes in the center.

Children and adults playing along the curved edge of a man-made water drainage tunnel or canal.

Aerial view of a large outdoor music venue with a curved waterfall feature in the center, surrounded by palm trees, pathways, and several people.

AR Presentation Tool App

I designed and wrote this app in C# for iOS to help clients better understand the scale and behavior of water features as dynamic and animated sculptures. This video shows three different concepts illustrated by 2 different applications. The first concept is the use of an iPad as a “magic window” to activate a static physical paper model. The window reveals an animated water feature rendered virtually that tracks the physical object like a hologram. The second concept is the use of this tablet/iPad as a dynamic interface to explore water choreography. You can use gestures to create choreography. The final concept is to use a mobile device screen on site to actually trigger changes in the physical fountain in real-time like a remote control. This final concept is possible but poses interesting questions about the kinds of experiences that are really successful.

Below you can see some tracking texture studies I made to help the iPad camera track the models - this is only a small fraction of the textures I generated and tested for tracking. It's really challenging to make something that's high-contrast, non-repetitive (every patch is unique), and aesthetically pleasing.

AR Presentation Tool App

I designed and wrote this app in C# for iOS to help clients better understand the scale and behavior of water features as dynamic and animated sculptures. This video shows three different concepts illustrated by 2 different applications. The first concept is the use of an iPad as a “magic window” to activate a static physical paper model. The window reveals an animated water feature rendered virtually that tracks the physical object like a hologram. The second concept is the use of this tablet/iPad as a dynamic interface to explore water choreography. You can use gestures to create choreography. The final concept is to use a mobile device screen on site to actually trigger changes in the physical fountain in real-time like a remote control. This final concept is possible but poses interesting questions about the kinds of experiences that are really successful.

Below you can see some tracking texture studies I made to help the iPad camera track the models - this is only a small fraction of the textures I generated and tested for tracking. It's really challenging to make something that's high-contrast, non-repetitive (every patch is unique), and aesthetically pleasing.

Screenshot of a Unity project script for a game, showing code comments explaining object references, GameObjects, and variables used in the game scene setup.

The following script is one of many JavaScript files that compose the Unity Project. I used the Vuforia library by Qualcomm for in-camera texture tracking. I treated each script like an object.

A lottery ticket with a hand holding and scratching a section, revealing the numbers 2, 1, and 0.

Screenshot of a Unity software coding interface with instructional text on how the touchscreen input works and how to use draw mode with finger gestures.

The following section manages touchscreen input. I would cast a ray from the virtual camera at the location of the touch to find the intersection with the surface.

A technical drawing showing various lines, angles, and labels, including points, circles, and lines, with annotations in different colors such as blue, green, gray, and orange, representing a mechanical or engineering diagram.

A mathematical guide explaining the calculation of angles and distances using touch input and finger position data, including formulas for current, last, and distance between fingers, with variables for coordinates and angles.

A computer screen displaying lines of code, including comments and conditional statements, with a sidebar note explaining testing for collision detection using mouse and raycast methods.

Diagram with labeled vectors, points, and angles, likely representing a physics or mathematics concept, with a dotted square outline and gray circular background.

Page containing text with mathematical formulas and definitions related to collision events, including variables for positions and distances, and criteria for successful triggers.

Screenshot of computer code on the left with instructions about game states, and a paragraph explaining game states and a minimal GUI on the right.

I made a very simple interface with several “brushes” to give the user (in this case a client) a sense of the thinking behind the choreography.

A code snippet on the left side and descriptive text about virtual water emission and sprite animation on the right side.

The following script is one of many JavaScript files that compose the Unity Project. I used the Vuforia library by Qualcomm for in-camera texture tracking. I treated each script like an object.

Screenshot of computer code in a Unity project, with annotations explaining the use of GameObject variables and functions for game development.

A hand holding a mobile device displaying a digital check with the amount of 210 dollars in large font. The check has dotted design elements around the edges.

The following section manages touchscreen input. I would cast a ray from the virtual camera at the location of the touch to find the intersection with the surface.

Computer screen displaying Unity 5 game development code with annotations describing touchscreen input, draw mode, and drag functionality.

Diagram illustrating formulas for calculating the two-dimensional coordinates and angles of a switched touch input system, including references to first and second contact points, distances, and angles with corresponding equations and definitions.

Screenshot of programming code with a comment indicating it includes a 'mouse mode' for testing on a computer, ensuring sufficient distance from recorded collision.

Diagram showing positions and distances between collision events, with labels p1, p2, p3 for event positions and d1, d2 for distances, along with mathematical formulas explaining collision detection logic.

I made a very simple interface with several “brushes” to give the user (in this case a client) a sense of the thinking behind the choreography.

Screenshot of a computer code script with a white background and multicolored text, and a side panel displaying informational text about game states and a graphical user interface (GUI).

Screenshot of programming code with a textual description about virtual water emission properties, such as height, splash, and color, and instructions for implementing a sprite animation with code comments. The text explains setting particle modes and initializing a right emitter for the animation.

Renderings and sketches for projects at WET