Why Meganne Money Says the Next 10 Years Will Transform Laser Technology

Fifteen years ago, touring with lasers meant hauling argon gas tanks and cooling systems that filled entire trucks.

Crews needed dedicated infrastructure support. Budgets ballooned before a single beam hit the air.

Today, a single programmer can pack powerful diode-based units into cases small enough to wheel through an airport.

Meganne Money has witnessed the equipment from both eras firsthand, and she believes the industry stands on the edge of changes that will make current technology look primitive.

The Hardware Revolution Already Underway 

Money regards those from the pre-diode generation of lasers with fond respect. “They were in the era of having argon gas lasers and giant coolant tanks that had to travel with them, and these laser systems were giant monsters,” she remarks. Those days created massive barriers to entry. Only the largest productions could justify the expense and logistics. Smaller tours and mid-tier artists simply went without.

Diode-based technology changed everything. Meganne Money notes that modern systems have “condensed down into this more user-friendly- especially for me, as a woman- package.” Units that once required dedicated infrastructure crews now weigh between 50 and 100 pounds each.

Heavy, yes. Demanding, absolutely. But no longer requiring a small army to move.

When Software Finally Catches Up 

Hardware has outpaced the programming side.

Current industry-standard software demands that programmers build cues frame by frame, point by point, or by calculating geometry and trigonometry on an x, y, z plane grid.

Every shape requires manual construction. Every animation means plotting coordinates. Money sees that changing dramatically in the coming decade.

“I do see this field advancing to a point where the software is easier to use and we’re not using so much math, where when mapping I can upload a video or render that adjusts automatically to scale via camera in a live venue instead of having to map out traces frame by frame, the laser will still be able to follow video content or trace architecture,” she explains.

Imagine uploading a logo animation and having the laser automatically convert it into scannable content. Creative possibilities would explode. Technical barriers would shrink. Programmers could focus on artistry instead of arithmetic.

Meganne Money points to another development gaining traction among experimenters. “We’re also seeing in the industry a lot of people playing with the infrared,” she says.

Some programmers have started using motion-sensing technology originally designed for gaming consoles to map human bodies and objects in real time. “I think they’re actually using an Xbox Kinect to, like, map people or objects out and have that translate into an outline and laser.”

Real-time tracking could revolutionize how performers interact with laser effects, creating responsive visuals that follow movement rather than requiring precise choreography.

The Constants That Will Persist 

Hardware shrinks and software improves, but certain fundamentals remain untouched. Money still files for FAA airspace approval on outdoor shows, using her phone’s compass to align laser headings with approved angles. She still keeps her hand hovering over emergency stop buttons when lasers hang from moving trusses. Safety protocols stay non-negotiable regardless of how sleek the equipment becomes.

The talent pool remains remarkably small. So few people work at the highest levels of laser programming that Meganne Money actively encourages newcomers to enter the field. She recommends downloading Pangolin Beyond, the industry-standard software, and learning to work around what insiders affectionately call “bonus features”- bugs that require creative troubleshooting. The learning curve stays steep, but the opportunities keep growing.

A Decade of Brilliant Transformation 

“There’s big stuff coming,” Money says. “It’s going to be an exciting next 10 years for the laser industry.”

Her optimism comes from observing how quickly everything has already shifted. Argon gas to diodes took perhaps two decades. Motion-sensing integration, automated video-to-laser conversion, and increasingly compact hardware could compress even more dramatic changes into the next ten years. The pace keeps accelerating.

Meganne Money sees a future where brilliant visual effects become accessible to productions that currently cannot afford dedicated laser departments. Programmers would spend less time on mathematical calculations, more time on creative expression. The gap between imagination and execution would narrow until it nearly disappears.