Entertainment

Dance group Lightwire Theater combines art, technology, and puppetry in their performances. Glowing characters come to life as performers and puppets outfitted in electroluminescent wire move around a pitch-black stage. In addition to their classic shows Darwin the Dinosaur and The Ugly Duckling, Lightwire Theater can also create custom tailored performances for events. Prices vary depending on the number of performers and length of the piece, and the group requires that the performance space be dark.

Hewlett-Packard marked the launch of its new portfolio of Windows 8 touch technology products with an event in October that had attendees controlling patterned projections. Stations set up around the perimeter of New York's Terminal 5 let guests play with touch-screen computers while simultaneously changing the look and color of the lighting that illuminated panels overhead.

UrbanDaddy's "white room" event—an affair created in partnership with Stoli to promote the vodka brand's new campaign and flavors—invited guests to create the night's decor using paint and brushes. The November party in New York also supplied its attendees with lab coats and goggles to protect clothes from their creative tasks.

Lifestyle images layered with infrared technology at Target's after-party for the MTV Movie Awards in 2008 allowed guests to interact with the images using the heat and movement of their bodies.

To encourage attendees to make on-site donations at its December Charity:Ball in New York, nonprofit Charity:Water sold yellow helium-filled balloons for $5 each. Guests could release their brightly colored inflatables into a 28-foot-tall, 20-foot-wide net rigged to the ceiling of the 69th Regiment Armory. As the inflatable orbs filled the structure, it started to resemble a giant yellow Jerry can, Charity:Water's signature symbol.

At the Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS' Dining by Design event in Chicago in November, the table for CS Interiors designed by Casa Spazio with Atelier Turner was reminiscent of an artist's studio. The vignette inside the Merchandise Mart had paper walls, ample brushes, and open jars of paint, and guests were encouraged to add to the background mural.

David Stark's design for Cooper-Hewitt's 2011 National Design Awards was dominated by the use of fluorescent tape supplied by 3M. In addition to an installation that displayed a scale version of the art institution's Upper East Side home, the cocktail hour had a wall where gala guests could draw or write about what design means to them using brightly colored adhesive strips.

Combining a live performance by Coldplay with digital components, the American Express Unstaged concert in October 2011 saw the stage decorated with a backdrop of butterflies. The video installation that was projected on LCD screens for the Madrid show was a collage of designs the audience members were invited to create online.

In 2009, Louis Vuitton debuted its new in-store boutique at Saks Fifth Avenue by building an indoor garden at the New York store. The centerpiece of the event's design was a wishing tree, where guests were invited to pen their answers to the question "Where will your journey take you?" and hang the messages on strands of ribbon dangling from its branches.

During the September 2010 run of New York Fashion Week, Chanel reopened its SoHo store with a big bash. To leave most of the retail space free of additional decor elements—and allow the 500 guests to move around—the producers erected two black tents outside and turned the inside walls into an interactive graffiti room. In this area, guests could use custom paint cans to digitally tag oversize LED screens.

To highlight the event's focus on children and fund-raising for a charter school, the 2006 Robin Hood Foundation gala had giant chalkboards in the reception area set up in New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. David Stark sketched local landmarks and iconic scenes on the walls, and, during the event, guests could add their own designs with chalk provided in bowls on the cocktail tables.

Oh Snap! Smile offers a budget-friendly $725 booth for New York events, but the sky is the limit with its custom options. The company works with clients to create unique backdrops and props that incorporate brand imagery, plus quirky setups like their bed photo booth. They can also include social media integration.

Yolo Photos has transformed a working 1965 Volkswagen Beetle into a photo booth. Guests climb into the backseat to take photos, where the ceiling is covered in colorful fabric daisies. The standard package costs $1,200 and includes 35 miles of travel from Boca Raton, Florida. The car’s interior and exterior can also be custom-branded for events

The Bosco offers video confessionals and photo booths with unique functions like a booth that creates images that appear in 3-D when viewed with 3-D glasses. The animated GIF function takes four pictures, then prints a physical copy and combines the photos into an animation that instantly uploads to the Web. The Bosco is available to rent throughout the world, and the company can design custom options, too.

Rotobooth is powered by a hacked rotary phone that takes a series of pictures after the user dials his or her cell phone number. The user is texted a link to the images, which he or she can choose to download or share via social media. The New York-based company is in the process of expanding to cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and Austin.

NYC Photobooth debuted their new "Haunted Photocrypts" earlier this year. Ideal for Halloween events, the booth features a ghoulish exterior and a variety of theme-appropriate backgrounds. Inside is a touch-screen interface and an interactive talking skull. NYC Photobooth services New York City, but can deliver anywhere from Boston to Baltimore for an additional fee. Basic luxury booth packages starts from $2,500.

Social Booth offers enclosed and open booths with accessories that can be custom-printed or wrapped with graphics and logos. The open Party Booth setup (pictured) can accommodate more than 15 people; photos can be printed on site, or guests can use nearby tablets to share photos online. The enclosed Duo Booth seats two people; printed photos arrive through an opening in the side of the booth, and guests can share photos online via a touch-screen. The company has specialists based in Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, and the booths are easily shippable to other locations. Basic packages start at $850.

Polite in Public's art department works with corporate clients to create custom backdrops, props, graphic overlays, and photo effects. The company’s trademarked BeautyBot camera captures photos that are instantly retouched to magazine quality. For corporate clients, the Friend.Vu platform is a social sharing system that lets guests receive and share their images digitally. The company has local setups in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, and Boston, but the compact system is available to travel anywhere.

Photoboothless recently launched Instaboothless, a photo system that prints out physical copies of photos taken on Instagram at an event. Guests take photos on their smartphones, then tag them with a specific hashtag which automatically uploads them to the Instaboothless printer. Designated event photographers also roam the crowd taking pictures of guests with the Instagram app and sending them to the printer. The prints include space for custom graphics and messages. Pricing starts from $650, and the system is available nationwide.

Mobile Photo Booth has transformed a trailer into a photo booth known as the "Grande." Available only in Minnesota, the booth comes equipped with built-in speakers for music and can accommodate groups of 10 or more at a time. Rental fees range between $700 and $1200 for three to six hours, and include unlimited picture strips and digital images.

Pod Pix's curved, stand-up style booths can fit nine people at a time. For an additional fee, the digital photo booths can also include email and Facebook integration, and a video mode. Photo strips, backdrops, and the exterior wrap can all be customized with text, images, and other graphics. Available in the tristate area and parts of Pennsylvania, the units include an LED display that plays a slide show of images in real time. Pricing varies, but starts at $299 per hour with a two-hour minimum.

ShutterBooth rents booths across the U.S., with offices in more than 40 cities. The photo booths can be branded with specially designed ShutterSkinz, and video booths are also available. The company’s "Shutter and Share" technology allows guests' photos to be shared instantly via email and Facebook. Packages vary by market, but usually start around $795 for four hours of unlimited photos.

Boothomatic's eco-friendly, collapsible digital photo booths have iPad integration that allows guests to upload photos to Facebook and Twitter. Multiple-choice or open-ended questions can also be programmed into the system prior to the event. The responses can then be collected, along with the guest's email address, so the program can double as a tool for market research and product launches. The standard package costs $2,000 and includes delivery within one hour's drive from New York City.

Just looking for an old-fashioned photo booth without all the bells and whistles? The Majestic Photobooth Co. offers vintage-inspired photo booths reminiscent of those from the '50s and '60s. A three-hour package ($995 in Atlanta and Nashville; $1,195 in N.Y.C., D.C., and Philadelphia) includes unlimited photo strips, an attendant, and an online gallery. Custom photo strip logos, prop packages, and custom posters for the booth exteriors are also available.