LiveSpark at IAAPA 2014

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions is one stop shopping for roller coasters, bounce houses, and yes, FirePixels. This year's show was both fun and productive, we think especially since we brought a fire-shooting pyramid. 

This short video shows a bit about how we put the fire pyramid together and how it looked at the show. We wanted to create a display that highlighted the FirePixels' variability, how easy it is to mount in more than just a straight line, and to open the imagination for how these versatile effects can be used in the amusement park, family entertainment center, and in attractions both indoors and out. 

Thanks to our partners at the show Orlando Special Effects.

Happy Halloween

No other holiday says fire like Halloween, and we love to get creative this time of year. We were having some fun with pumpkins and just couldn't help but light them up with FirePixels.

Las Vegas Blvd Gains Fiery New Art Addition

Today, LiveSpark, the cutting-edge digital flame effects art house and 2013 Downtown Project Portfolio acquisition revealed its Tree of Life street light, another leap in the move to crown DTLV the “World Capital of Fire.” The 30 foot-tall steel and chrome sculpture, an abstract riff on a desert bloom, utilizes a patented flame effect system to generate mesmerizing fire patterns which shift in mood from graceful to formidable — all within seconds. 

"Our first piece from LiveSpark and a first of its kind for Downtown Las Vegas, this street light is also a way to turn something normally thought of as background city infrastructure into something fun," says Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos and founder of Downtown Project.

The Tree of Life fire sculpture is the brainchild of  LiveSpark founder Brett Bond, and was created in conjunction with Bay-Area based fine artists Erik Walker and Nick Dong and local fabricators Quality Mechanical.  

LiveSpark has created refined, flame effect enabled installations that have been seen by millions and featured at prestigious events and festivals such as EDC Los Angeles, Coachella, San Francisco's Black and White Ball, Wrestlemania 30, and many others.

Check Livesparkfire.com for updates.

The Tree of Life street light fires weeknights 6-11pm and weekends 6pm-midnight

Better than a trick birthday candle

When we built the FirePixel, windy environments were a challenge we needed to address. So each FirePixel has an electronic flame sensing system capable of detecting not only when the flame is on or off, but even when it is about to blow out. 

It takes a fairly strong gust of wind to even blow out the FirePixel at all. We accomplish this in the shop with a 90psi blast from an air compressor. And note in this video that as the FirePixel blows out, each time it relights on the first spark, in under 1 second. With subsequent blowouts, the minimum flame size is increased so the flame resists the wind even better. When the wind is reduced, the minimum flame size goes back down to a tiny candle.

An 8-foot-tall FirePixel birthday cake built for a corporate event in Anaheim, CA.

Drowning the flames

If you love something…drown it? I’ll admit it, the first few times I performed these tests I was afraid I’d break my beloved creation. And I did...

Read more about LiveSpark's internal water testing on founder Brett Bond's blog: makerbrett.net/post/93930110522/drowning-the-flame.