From Drones to Underground Marvels: Unleashing the Tech Wonders of Vivid Sydney

We’re excited about Vivid Sydney, and the technology behind it.

One good thing about getting dark early in Sydney this time of year is that it’s Vivid season!

Vivid Sydney describes itself as “an annual celebration of creativity, innovation and technology, which transforms Sydney for 23 days and nights, from May 26 to 17 June 2023.” Now in its 13th year, the festival of light, music and ideas presents the work of leading artists and thinkers, attracting millions of visitors.

Sydney’s CBD and harbour districts are decked out with light sculptures, multimedia interactive work and building projections that transform landmarks such as the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The city becomes a night-time outdoor sight and sound art canvas.

All made possible via technology

Technology has always played a key role in Vivid’s wow-factor. At the first outing in 2009, jointly curated by Brian Eno, famed musician and visual artist at the forefront of electronica, revolutionary ‘light paintings’ were projected onto both sides of the Opera House.

In 2023, the public can witness such installations as “Infinity” a hyper-real immersive 360° experience in Barangaroo or ‘Written in the Stars’, the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest drone show in the sky above Circular Quay. Drone show observers can download an app that syncs up audio to make it a multimedia display.

There’s Dark Spectrum, “a transportive multi-sensory experience” in abandoned railway tunnels below Wynyard Station, open to the public for the very first time. The 900-metre walk takes visitors through eight underground rooms fitted with lights, lasers and robots, metres away from trains rumbling past. All in all, more than 300 attractions will reflect this year’s theme of Vivid Sydney, Naturally.

Where would a tech career take you?

At the core of all Vivid’s exhibits, from small light sculptures to city-scale extravaganzas, are the skills of specialised technicians. That’s one of the most exciting aspects of setting off on a tech career journey – you can go in so many possible directions.

Say, for instance, you entered the FDM Software Development Graduate Program. Creating new and innovative digital experiences within a wide range of industries, a developer’s role is challenging and rewarding from the outset. And the highly sought-after skillset and experience you gain opens up unlimited alternative future career paths to you.

You could progress into specialist roles such as applications developer, games developer, web developer, systems developer, or cloud engineer – and we’re just getting started.

Once you get started, there’s really no limit to where you can go. Find out how we can help you fast-track your career in tech. Click here to find out more.