Search projection mapping and you come up with a lot of solutions that use a ton of projectors and complex buildings as surfaces. I love this one, but imagine the detail required in the renderings and programming.  Up to ten visitors at a time can interact with Archifon by using the laser pointers. By pointing to any of the more than 100 elements, different audiovisual reactions are initiated.

But these two seem to buck the trend.

This one from UK DJ Squarepusher uses a lower resolution LED array (and some cool LED glasses) to create quite a bit of depth. What really matters then is understanding the limitations of the resolution and exploiting them to maximum effect.

This one from electronic musician and VJ Nosaj uses foam blocks and then exploits the size of these blocks in the rendered projection mapping and uses each as a pixel.  I also love this one because there is so much in it about the preparation.

This isn’t just limited to projection mapping, it can be applied to any media exercise. Don’t be limited by the resolution of the media. Instead take full advantage of it.

Original Links from Fast Co. Design : Here and Here