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VARI*LITE is the brand name of one of the first automated variable-color lighting systems to be...

VARI*LITE is the brand name of one of the first automated variable-color lighting systems to be created. Their automated lighting fixtures are commonly used in theatre, concerts, television, film and corporate events. Showco, an equipment rental company at the forefront of Rock 'n' Roll touring in North America in the 1970s, had a very active R&D; department, continuously looking for new technology. At the time, many companies within this market were trying to solve the problem of a reliable and robust colour change unit for lighting fixtures. Many of these took the form of wheels or scrolls of Gel. However, coloured gel had a tendency to burn or rip if used incorrectly. One of the engineers, Jim Bornhorst, while looking at alternative methods of colouring light, had realised that dichroic filters have a strange side effect, so that when you twist them, the filter shifts frequency. That might have been the extent of their advancement if not for a barbecue lunch in the fall of 1980. At that gathering, the idea of adding two extra motors to the fixture to actually make the light move was conceived. This "eureka" moment facilitated an all-out building effort for a fully automated