Artist and technologist Jaime Jiaming Yao is redefining digital art by integrating AI and 3D pipelines into public spaces, bridging the gap between cold technology and human-centered storytelling.
In the bustling terminal of Long Beach Airport. the architecture of the building often mirrors the hurried state of those passing through it. Yet. since 2025. travelers have been greeted by *At the Still Point*. a sprawling anamorphic LED installation that does more than decorate the space—it challenges the way we see it. Created by Los Angeles-based artist and Creative Technologist Jaime Jiaming Yao. the installation uses point-cloud technology to deconstruct a local coastal lighthouse. As viewers move, the work oscillates between a recognizable landmark and an abstract, flickering poem of light.
For Yao, the airport is not merely a backdrop, but a central component of the art itself. While most digital media is designed for the stillness of a gallery. Yao’s work is engineered for the rhythm of the city. He builds his installations to interact with the unpredictable paths of pedestrians. creating a dialogue between the viewer’s movement and the digital image. This principle defines his dual career: as a creative at the Los Angeles studio StandardVision and as an AI filmmaker. he uses technology not to automate art. but to extend the boundaries of human perception.
His work at the Los Angeles Public Library further highlights this approach. Using Unreal Engine 5, Yao constructed imagery that pays homage to the Impressionist movement. Instead of a static digital render. his work depicts the city’s light and architecture as if they were evolving on a canvas. with colors and forms shifting in continuous motion. The project. alongside his companion piece *In Our Time*. invites library patrons to look beyond familiar street signs and consider the intangible ways light shapes their experience of the city. It is a subtle. grounded intervention in a civic space. intended to linger in the viewer’s mind long after they have walked out the library doors.
This same conceptual discipline extends into Yao’s work in narrative film. As a Creative Partner at the Y Combinator-backed platform Flick.art. he has become a notable voice in the debate surrounding generative AI. steering away from the stylistic homogenization that often plagues the field. He approaches filmmaking with a rigorous framework—designing character concepts, storyboards, and color standards before turning to his AI models. The results have earned institutional recognition: his film *Ulysses* received the Best Supporting Character Award at the 2026 MIT Global AI Film Hack. and *The Herder* was an official selection of the Cinequest Film Festival.
The distinction is clear: Yao treats his technical toolkit—whether point-cloud reconstruction or multi-model AI workflows—as a medium. much like a painter’s brush. By maintaining command over narrative and aesthetic decisions, he avoids the trap of the technological spectacle. In a creative climate where AI tools are often used as a shortcut. Yao’s practice remains rooted in human-centered storytelling. Whether capturing the fleeting state of mind of an airport traveler or the shifting light of a Los Angeles street. he continues to map the intersection where our physical environment meets our virtual experience. proving that even in an age of algorithms. the artist’s hand remains essential.
Jaime Jiaming Yao digital art AI filmmaking public art Los Angeles Unreal Engine At the Still Point Flick.art creative technology