The Paul Linden Archive Explore Archive

The story

One continuous journey

Paul Linden's career is best understood not as several unrelated jobs, but as a single arc: a lifelong effort to imagine new ways for people to experience entertainment, and to build the machines that made them real.

A teenage Paul Linden in a school blazer stands beside his 1968 science-fair project, "Underwater Cities: Homes of the Future."

01

Early Curiosity & Armour Amusement

1968–1980

Long before the lasers, there was a teenager building the future of underwater cities and a college student learning how entertainment technology actually behaves once it leaves the lab.
A ShowBiz Pizza Place showroom with the animatronic band on stage, the Jellystone Park stage at right, and families seated at the tables.

02

ShowBiz Pizza Place & Multimedia Entertainment

1980–1990

As Director of Entertainment, Paul helped shape one of the most ambitious location-based entertainment experiences of its era — synchronising audio, video, lighting, and animatronics into a single show.
A dense optical bench of mirrors, lenses, and acousto-optic modulators from one of Paul Linden's laser projection systems.

03

Advanced Laser Projection

1988–1996

The center of Paul's invention story: using lasers as the light source for large-format video projection, and the patents that came out of it.
Sweeping ribbons of red, green, and blue laser light — a lumia composition made with Paul Linden's laser systems.

04

Linden Laser Systems & Beyond

1996–present

Paul's own company — where the laser projection, optics, holography, and show work continued as custom design, installation, and show labor for clients around the world.