Bot & Dolly is a design and engineering studio based in San Francisco that specializes in automation, robotics, and filmmaking. It’s our mission to advance motion control and automation as a creative medium, and build world-class tools that enable others to do the same. At the core of their technology is an integrated software/hardware platform that provides precise and expressive control of 6-axis industrial robots. To date, their tools have been used in feature films, national television ads, Las Vegas shows, and large-scale art installations.

“Box” explores the synthesis of real and digital space through projection-mapping on moving surfaces. The short film documents a live performance, captured entirely in camera. Bot & Dolly produced this work to serve as both an artistic statement and technical demonstration. It is the culmination of multiple technologies, including large scale robotics, projection mapping, and software engineering. They believe this methodology has tremendous potential to radically transform theatrical presentations, and define new genres of expression.
Below is a detailed exploration of the technical and creative processes behind Box: