It was our first Lumina Enchanted Night Walk, an outdoor experience that immerses visitors in a natural environment animated with lights, sounds, special effects, and captivating storytelling. Following an LED-lit trail, our movements triggered trees to talk, the crash of a waterfall, a Golden Spruce to sparkle, and the silhouette of a miner to sing to his grandchild. The 1.5-kilometre pathway led us deeper into a mysterious tale of fallen stardust, but more importantly, it created a true moment of awe for both parents and kids. My young son wanted to revisit the “talking twees” for years, and on a recent visit to Whistler, we returned to Vallea Lumina to recapture the stardust.

Despite its international success, Moment Factory has modest roots in Montreal’s late-1990s rave scene. “Montreal has such a rich creative community and culture. Very festive, very innovative. The influence of the city is massive,” explains Moment Factory co-founder Dominic Audet.

Audet and co-founder Sakchin Bessette were party producers and pioneers of moving visuals, producing and splicing VHS clips to project onto bedsheets and venue walls. Live editing visuals at dance parties was an art form in its infancy, swept along by a digital explosion of innovation and technology. Together, the pair formalized an art studio to develop cutting-edge digital display technology, all the while remaining grounded in human connection.

Unlike the passive experience of watching a film, guests are fully immersed and interact with each display, while light and sound designers, musicians, writers, software engineers, and installation teams collaborate to fulfill a strong creative vision. Moment Factory develops proprietary technology and has an in-house research and development department that pushes the boundaries of display and artificial intelligence. 

“We don’t use virtual people, we use actual people,” says Audet, emphasizing the human talent behind every project. For a Canadian company at the crossroads of technology, tourism and entertainment, homegrown, in-house-trained talent makes all the difference.

Having lit up Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, Ottawa’s Parliament Hill,, the Montreal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge, and New York’s Madison Square Garden, I ask Audet what’s on the company’s bucket list.

“Our polestar is to create mixed-use, permanent installations that people can visit more often and experience for longer, to create a triangle of community, economic and environmental development,” he says. Urban or rural locations that are underutilized or abandoned can be revitalized as interactive spaces for both the community and visitors. “We have a strong power of manifestation,” says Audet, who has lately focused on building the dream in Japan.