Mobile
Progressive web apps, responsive crew tools, and on-site experiences for phones and tablets, built to work on venue Wi-Fi and in the field.
Focused software, mobile, web & application development
Mobile, web & apps.
Rooms, screens & networks.
BLD.Technology is founded by Alex Hughes, Head of Technical Design at Mandylights and working in entertainment technology since 2009. We build mobile, web, and application software for meeting rooms, desk availability, Jira freight tracking, cloud signage, and sACN lighting networks, and consult when your project needs a builder who understands both the code and the show.
- 2009
- Career started
- 5
- Shipping products
- Global
- Touring & permanent installs
- Mobile
- Web & application dev
What we build
Software for the systems you already run
Mobile, web, and application development for operations teams, plus a growing portfolio of products and bespoke builds when off-the-shelf isn't enough. Each one designed to slot into existing hardware, workflows, and networks rather than replace them.
Web
Admin portals, ops dashboards, signage players, and integration front ends, from single-page apps to cloud-hosted platforms.
Applications
Desktop tools, server-side services, APIs, firmware, and Forge apps, full application development from architecture through deployment.
MeetingZen
Touch-first meeting room control, schedule, join, and manage AV from a room panel and TV display.
Learn more →TransitTrack
Freight and parcel tracking inside Jira Cloud, packages, vessels, and manual entries on every issue.
Learn more →WallCanvas
Cloud-hosted digital signage, design widget layouts, register screens, and publish to any display.
Learn more →sACNcaster
E1.31 sACN bridge with visual topology, live metrics, and HA, route lighting data across networks.
Learn more →BusyLight
WiFi desk availability indicator, LCD and RGB LED synced to your staff-status server, with web UI and OTA updates.
Learn more →
Our Products
Tools built for real workflows
Meeting rooms, desk indicators, wall displays, Jira workflows, and lighting networks, built to live inside the systems you already run.
Boardroom A
Available
Join now
Today
09:00
Stand-up
Teams
10:30
Client review
Meet
14:00
Sprint planning
Zoom
MeetingZen
Turn repurposed conference room hardware into a touch-first room panel, show today's schedule, join Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Webex with one tap, and drive the LED ring and presence sensor.
- Dual-screen setup: touch controller on the panel, schedule & status on the room TV
- Calendar-driven agenda from Google, Microsoft, or any iCal feed
- One-tap join for Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex
- In-meeting mute, volume, HDMI present, and end controls
- LED ring states (idle, occupied, in meeting) + PIR presence wake
- Screen saver, weather widget, room QR code, and configurable themes
- PIN-protected Admin UI, room name, accounts, hardware, and display settings
- Optional Mac Mini companion mode for better camera, mic, and AirPlay
Built for
IT and AV teams deploying conference rooms, and organizations that want professional room panels without vendor lock-in or per-room licensing.
Typical deployments
- Standard rooms with touch panel + TV
- Companion mode with dedicated meeting compute
- Multi-room rollouts with backup & clone
Key outcome
Walk into a room, see today's schedule, and join the meeting in one tap, without remotes, dial-in codes, or a proprietary panel subscription.
Go deeper
- Room config in Admin UI, infrastructure stays in
.env, everything else in settings - Companion mode: panel on the touch device, meeting compute on a Mac for better AV and AirPlay
- PWA installable controller and display shells, kiosk-friendly room UX
- Migration path from legacy mMeeting deployments
Not in scope
No vendor SDKs, join links come from calendar URL extraction. Org tenant policies can affect guest join behaviour.
Node.js 20+
React 19
Ubuntu
Docker
FREIGHT-142 · Customs clearance
Package
In transit
ETA 15 Jun 2026
AIS vessel
At anchor
→ Melbourne
Shipments · 2 active
TransitTrack
A Jira Cloud Forge app that tracks parcel shipments via Shippo, ocean vessel voyages via AIS Stream, and manual freight entries, all attached directly to Jira issues with automated comments and notifications.
- Package tracking across 70+ carriers (FedEx, DHL, Australia Post, Sendle, and more)
- Ocean vessel tracking by MMSI, destination, ETA, port arrival, and delay detection
- Manual freight for containers and BOLs that APIs can't track
- Issue sidebar glance + full issue panel, status visible without opening the app
- Project-wide Freight movements tab with board and project filters
- Per-shipment notification rules, status changes, delays, customs, and fees
- Shippo webhooks + hourly poll post Jira comments and email assignees & watchers
- Authenticated JSON feed for external ops dashboards, no Jira login required
Built for
Logistics coordinators, supply chain teams, and Jira Cloud admins who need shipment visibility tied directly to the work items they already manage.
Typical deployments
- Freight and customs clearance workflows
- Ocean cargo with AIS vessel monitoring
- Ops wallboards via JSON movements feed
Key outcome
Freight status on the Jira issue itself, parcels, vessels, and manual entries update automatically so coordinators stop switching between portals.
Go deeper
- AIS vessel tracking surfaces destination, ETA, and port arrival, not live map coordinates
- Authenticated JSON movements feed for ops wallboards without Jira logins
- Shippo webhooks plus hourly poll fallback, comments and emails on status changes
- Per-shipment notification rules for delays, customs holds, and fees
Not in scope
No container or BOL API lookup, use manual freight entries. AIS depends on vessel transmission; Shippo tracking may incur per-number costs for non-Shippo shipments.
Atlassian Forge
Shippo
AIS Stream
React 18
WallCanvas
A cloud-hosted digital signage platform we run and manage for you. Design drag-and-drop widget layouts in the admin portal, register any screen with a short device code, and publish to TVs, kiosks, media players, or browsers, with no servers to install or maintain.
- 30+ widgets, Jira, Teamwork, weather, calendars, clocks, RSS, JSON feeds, and custom HTML
- Drag-and-drop grid editor with light/dark themes and resolutions up to 4K
- Simple device onboarding, screens pair with a code and receive content instantly
- View loops rotate layouts with timed transitions; per-device schedules for day/night content
- Live widget polling, data refreshes in place without full-page reloads
- Role-based access with admin and editor permissions
- Integrations for Jira, Teamwork, UptimeRobot, Google Calendar, and more
- Works with BrightSign players, browsers, and standard display hardware
Built for
Operations teams, facilities managers, and studios that need live wall displays, without the overhead of running and patching signage infrastructure themselves.
Typical deployments
- Office and studio status walls
- Warehouse and logistics dashboards
- Lobby, reception, and event countdown displays
Key outcome
Live wall displays that stay current, pair a screen with a code, publish from the cloud, and let widgets refresh in place without reloading the page.
Go deeper
- View loops rotate layouts with timed transitions; per-device day/night schedules
- Admin and editor roles, ops teams own content without touching infrastructure
- JSON feed and RSS widgets for custom metrics alongside Jira and Teamwork
- Evolved from years of self-hosted signage work, now fully managed
Not in scope
Cloud-managed only, we host and operate WallCanvas. Self-hosted signage is not offered as a product.
Cloud hosted
Node.js
BrightSign
4K displays
Ingest
Multicast
Remap
U+10
Output
Unicast
RX148 Hz
Universes12
TX148 Hz
Bridge active · HA standby
sACNcaster
An E1.31 (sACN) network bridge that listens on UDP/5568, joins multicast universes, forwards matching frames to remote hosts, and serves a live dashboard for monitoring and configuration.
- Visual topology designer, drag ingest, remaps, and outputs; save & apply YAML-backed routing
- Multicast ingest and unicast forward across subnets and VLANs
- Per-output CID, source name, priority, universe filtering, and remapping
- Live WebSocket metrics, inputs, universes, outputs, errors, and stall detection
- Built-in test sACN generators for bench testing without external sources
- Primary/standby HA failover with automatic config sync
- Output reachability checks and optional structured event logging
- LumiCore profile import/export for hardware pipeline round-trips
Built for
Lighting network operators, live event technicians, and install teams routing sACN between consoles, subnets, and remote nodes.
Typical deployments
- Console to remote fixture routing
- Multi-building universe splitting
- Show-critical HA bridge pairs
Key outcome
Route sACN universes across subnets with a visual topology, live stall detection, and a standby pair that takes over when the primary fails.
Go deeper
- Drag-and-drop topology designer, ingest, remaps, and outputs saved as YAML
- Built-in test generators for bench testing without an external console
- LumiCore profile import/export for hardware pipeline round-trips
- Optional API token and bearer auth for locked-down production networks
Not in scope
Production multicast needs Linux with host networking, Docker Desktop on macOS or Windows is for development only. Forwards standard 638-byte E1.31 frames only.
TypeScript
Fastify
Next.js
Docker
Available
BusyLight
BusyLight
A WiFi desk availability indicator built on the ESP32-C6, show your status on a 172×320 LCD and RGB LED, automatically synced to your staff-status server via HTTP polling, with manual override and a built-in web UI.
- ST7789 LCD + NeoPixel LED, custom colours and labels per status state
- HTTP polling every 5 seconds during active hours; per-device config by MAC address
- Built-in web UI for manual status, reboot, and OTA firmware updates
- Active hours scheduling, screen and LED off outside configured hours
- NTP timezone sync with automatic daylight saving
- Manual overrides persist until the server status changes
- Companion macOS menu-bar app for posting status to your server
Built for
Open-plan teams, studios, and hybrid workplaces where colleagues need a clear at-a-glance signal before they interrupt, without checking Slack or Teams.
Typical deployments
- Desk or shelf indicators per team member
- Studio floor availability walls
- Home office do-not-disturb visibility
Key outcome
Colleagues see whether you're available before they walk over. A physical indicator synced to your status server, not another app to check.
Go deeper
- Per-device config keyed by MAC address on your staff-status server
- Active-hours scheduling, display and LED sleep outside configured hours
- Manual override from the device web UI until the server status changes
- Companion macOS menu-bar app for posting status upstream
Not in scope
Requires your own staff-status HTTP endpoint. BusyLight is the desk indicator, not the presence backend. Pairs with ESP32-C6 hardware with ST7789 LCD and NeoPixel.
ESP32-C6
Arduino
WiFi
OTA
Integrations
Built for the stack you already use
Our products connect to the calendars, trackers, displays, and control networks your team relies on, not another siloed platform.
Meeting & calendar
Room panels and displays that speak your scheduling stack.
- Google Calendar
- Microsoft 365
- iCal feeds
- Google Meet
- Microsoft Teams
- Zoom
- Webex
Logistics & project tracking
Freight visibility where your work already lives.
- Jira Cloud
- Atlassian Forge
- Shippo
- AIS Stream
- JSON movements feed
Signage & ops data
Live wall content from the tools that run your floor.
- Jira
- Teamwork
- UptimeRobot
- Google Calendar
- RSS & JSON feeds
- Custom HTML
- BrightSign players
Availability & status
Physical desk indicators synced to your staff-status server.
- HTTP status polling
- Per-device MAC config
- macOS menu-bar control
- Custom status states
- OTA firmware
Lighting & control
Route and monitor sACN across subnets and show networks.
- E1.31 / sACN
- UDP multicast
- Unicast forwarding
- LumiCore profiles
- Primary / standby HA
Use cases
Where our software fits
Each product started from a real operational need, here are the problems we set out to solve.
Conference room experience
Replace clunky room booking panels with a calm touch interface. Staff see today's schedule, join meetings in one tap, and control AV without hunting for remotes or dial-in codes.
Logistics inside Jira
Stop switching between freight portals and project trackers. Attach shipments to Jira issues, get automated updates on delays and arrivals, and give stakeholders visibility from the tools they already use.
Live operations walls
Keep teams aligned with always-on displays showing Jira sprints, freight status, uptime, weather, and custom metrics, managed in the cloud so you focus on content, not infrastructure.
Lighting network routing
Bridge sACN between subnets when multicast won't cross the network. Route universes from a console to remote nodes with a visual topology and live diagnostics.
Ocean freight monitoring
Track vessels by MMSI with destination, ETA, and port arrival data surfaced on Jira issues, alongside parcel tracking for the last mile.
Event & venue displays
Run countdowns, multi-timezone clocks, crew rosters, and rotating message loops across venue screens, updated live from your integrations.
Desk availability at a glance
Give colleagues a physical signal (available, busy, in a meeting, or focused), synced from your staff-status server to an LCD and LED on every desk, without interrupting flow.
Live events & bespoke builds
When production ops need custom tooling, crew dashboards, AV integrations, lighting networks, or systems that don't exist yet, we scope, build, and deliver in-house software for show-critical environments.
Multi-room rollouts
Deploy consistent room experiences across a building or campus, backup and clone configs, PIN-protected admin, and themes that match your brand without per-room licensing.
Show-critical HA pairs
Run primary/standby bridge pairs with automatic config sync, live stall detection, and bench-test generators so lighting networks stay reliable through load-in and show time.
Industries
Where teams put our software to work
From corporate offices to touring productions, practical tools for environments where reliability matters.
Corporate & workplace
Meeting room panels, lobby signage, and IT-friendly deployments that integrate with existing AV and calendar infrastructure.
- MeetingZen
- BusyLight
- WallCanvas
Logistics & supply chain
Shipment and vessel tracking tied to Jira issues, automated updates, customs alerts, and ops wallboards fed from live freight data.
- TransitTrack
- WallCanvas
Studios & operations
Always-on status walls showing sprint progress, uptime, team availability, and custom metrics, managed in the cloud, not on a server in a cupboard.
- WallCanvas
- BusyLight
- Consultancy
Live events & venues
Lighting network routing, crew-facing tools, venue displays, and bespoke integrations built for show-critical timelines and complex production ops.
- sACNcaster
- Consultancy
Consultancy
In-house & bespoke
In-house & bespoke
is our specialty.
Not every problem maps to a product on the shelf. When you need someone who can scope the architecture, write the software, integrate the APIs, and understand what happens on show day, that's where BLD comes in.
Alex leads technical design for Mandylights, an entertainment architecture studio delivering concert tours, city-scale light artworks, broadcast, and immersive experiences across Australia, the UK, and the US. BLD.Technology brings that same depth to consultancy: lighting consoles and sACN networks, production crew systems, AV integrations, and the custom glue between platforms that off-the-shelf tools never quite cover.
Engagements range from a focused integration to full in-house platforms, always built by practitioners who've programmed shows, deployed networks, and supported systems under real deadlines.
Discuss a project View portfolioBespoke software
Mobile, web, and application development for your workflows, ops dashboards, crew-facing apps, room systems, signage, firmware, and the integrations that tie them together.
Technical leadership
Architecture, vendor evaluation, network design, and delivery oversight, from first brief through commissioning and long-term support planning.
Live events & lighting
grandMA programming, sACN routing, console bridges, show-critical control systems, and production ops that need to work when the audience arrives.
Typical consultancy work
- Mobile, web, and application development for ops, production, and workplace teams
- Custom integrations between production, logistics, HR, and business systems
- Bespoke ops dashboards, wall displays, crew-facing tools, and mobile PWAs
- Meeting room and venue AV software tailored to your hardware
- Lighting control, grandMA programming, sACN routing, OSC bridges, and console automation
- Production network design, remote, touch-free, and show-critical infrastructure
- Technical project scoping, vendor evaluation, commissioning, and delivery oversight
- Extending or white-labelling BLD products for your environment
Selected consultancy work
Real builds from touring productions, studios, and operations teams, anonymised, but representative of the systems Alex designs and ships.
Crew resourcing platform
End-to-end scheduling for touring production crews, pulling availability from HR, syncing with project management and calendars, and pushing notifications so ops leads stop rebuilding rosters in spreadsheets every week.
Show-sync mobile experience
Timecode-locked audio and video PWA for on-site audiences and crew, synchronised to the lighting rig via LTC/MTC over WebSocket so the experience stays frame-accurate with the show.
Chat ↔ project management bridge
Two-way bot between team chat and project management, conversations become tracked work, and project updates surface where crews actually communicate during load-in and show week.
Console cuelist bridge
grandMA3 integration mapping external JSON and colour data to console cuelists via OSC, automated looks driven by upstream systems, eliminating hours of manual programming on repeat deployments.
sACN-to-smart-lighting gateway
Map sACN universes to consumer smart bulbs with discovery and a web mapping UI, useful for installs, prototyping, and smaller venues without full fixture rigs.
sACN2LIFX on GitHub →ONVIF camera adapter
Turn JPEG snapshot cameras into virtual ONVIF devices via FFmpeg transcoding, so existing NVR platforms can adopt streams from hardware they weren't designed to support, without replacing the entire security stack.
Open source
Our Open Source Projects and Contributions
16 public repos and counting, hardware firmware, signage templates, sACN tooling, broadcast utilities, and integration glue. The kind of side projects that only make sense to a production engineer, published openly at github.com/AlexWHughes.
Lighting
sACN2LIFX
Route E1.31 sACN universes to LIFX smart bulbs, discovery, mapping UI, and prototyping without a full fixture rig.
Python SignageBrightSign HTML5 4K
BA Connected project template for running web pages in 4K on BrightSign XT3 players, a foundation for wall-display deployments.
HTML5 HardwareESP32-C6 LCD sketch
Minimal test firmware for the Waveshare ESP32-C6-LCD-1.47, verifies LCD, NeoPixel LED, and Wi-Fi before building desk indicators.
C++ HardwareM5Stick BusyLight
Webhook-driven desk availability indicator on M5Stick hardware, early predecessor to the ESP32-C6 BusyLight line.
C++ IntegrationsKublet × Teamwork
Display Teamwork Projects task information on Kublet e-ink displays, project status at a glance on a desk or ops shelf.
C++ ProductionCompanion LED matrix
ESP8266 satellite for Bitfocus Companion v4, shows button labels on a 32×8 MAX7219 matrix with WiFiManager config and safe-mode recovery.
C++ BroadcastDigiFlag for MultiViewer
Add DigiFlag overlay functionality to F1 MultiViewer, motorsport broadcast tooling for richer on-screen race data.
TypeScript LightingmaGPT
ChatGPT prompt library for grandMA3 workflows, console programming assistance forked from the CueGPT project.
Prompts
How we work
Partnership, not just software
Whether you're deploying a product or scoping a bespoke build, we work alongside your team from first conversation to production.
Understand your workflow
We start by learning how your team actually operates, the hardware you have, the systems you rely on, and whether a product, an integration, or a custom build is the right answer.
Design and deliver
From deploying MeetingZen or TransitTrack to building bespoke in-house software, we handle architecture, integration, configuration, and tailoring to your environment.
Support and evolve
Our products are actively developed from real-world use. We iterate with the teams who run them and extend capabilities as needs change.
Deploy your way
Self-hosted room controllers, cloud-managed signage, Jira Forge apps, or Docker-based network bridges, we match the deployment model to your environment and ops team.
How products are delivered
Self-hosted
MeetingZen, BusyLight, and sACNcaster run on your hardware, Ubuntu, Docker, ESP32 devices, or dedicated appliances on your network.
Cloud managed
WallCanvas is hosted and operated by us. You design content; we handle infrastructure, updates, and screen pairing.
Jira Forge
TransitTrack installs into your Jira Cloud site via Atlassian Forge, no servers to maintain on your side.
Bespoke delivery
Consultancy projects are scoped per engagement, from integrations and dashboards to full in-house tools.
Team
The person who builds it
The person who builds it
is the person you talk to.
BLD.Technology isn't a layer of account managers between you and the engineer. You work directly with the founder, a technical designer who still writes code, still programmes shows, and still ships on deadline.
Alex Hughes
Founder, BLD.Technology · Head of Technical Design, Mandylights
Alex is one of those rare practitioners who genuinely spans the full stack of entertainment technology, from programming a grandMA console on a stadium tour to deploying the Docker containers that run a crew dashboard in production. Based in Melbourne, he founded BLD.Technology to productise the kind of focused, no-nonsense software he kept building for operations teams who deserved better than bloated platforms.
As Head of Technical Design at Mandylights, he leads strategy, development, and delivery of application and control systems for the studio's global portfolio, concert tours, city-scale light artworks, broadcast, immersive experiences, and permanent architectural installations across Australia, the UK, and the US. He oversees a team of technical designers and works alongside creative, project management, and production departments to turn ambitious briefs into systems that actually run on show day.
His career since 2009 has taken him from venue technician to lighting programmer to technical designer, including grandMA training and support, freelance programming for major tours, senior AV work at Crown Casino Melbourne, and international production deployments. That trajectory shows in every BLD product: software written by someone who knows what happens when the network drops at load-in, not someone who's only seen it in a slide deck.
- Since 2009 Entertainment & production technology
- grandMA Programming, training & console migration
- Mobile · Web · Apps Full application development, APIs to firmware
- Control networks sACN, OSC, DMX, production networking
- Mobile development
- Web development
- Application development
- Application & control systems
- Production networking
- Lighting & AV integration
- API automation
- Team leadership
- Commissioning & support
We're growing
Freelance developers and sales help us build and bring products to the teams that need them.
See open roles
Melbourne, Australia
Delivering globally, tours, venues & installations
Builder, not broker
Direct access to the engineer who writes the code
Show-day tested
In the industry since 2009, systems that have to work when it matters
About BLD
Built by someone who's
Built by someone who's
been on the other side.
BLD.Technology exists because its founder kept encountering the same gap: teams in production, logistics, and workplace operations needed mobile, web, and application software that fit their actual workflows, and the market kept offering platforms that almost worked, until show day.
Every product, MeetingZen, TransitTrack, WallCanvas, sACNcaster, and BusyLight, started as a tool Alex built because nothing else did the job properly. They're maintained by someone who still leads technical design for international entertainment projects, still programmes lighting consoles, and still answers the phone when something breaks at 11pm before a load-in.
That combination, deep domain expertise in live events and AV, plus the ability to design, build, and deploy full-stack software, is what makes BLD different. You're not hiring a dev shop that needs six months to learn your industry. You're hiring a practitioner who already lives in it.
01
Clarity over clutter
Interfaces that respect your attention and your time.
02
Integrate, don't isolate
Room panels, wall displays, Jira workflows, and lighting bridges, all where your team already works.
03
Ship & iterate
Real feedback loops with the teams who use our tools every day.
04
Built to last
Stable, maintainable software designed for production environments, not demos that fall apart under real load.
Work with us
Join the team
We're growing and looking for talented people to help us build and bring our products to the teams that need them.
Freelance
Developer
Help us build and extend MeetingZen, TransitTrack, WallCanvas, sACNcaster, and BusyLight, focused software and hardware used in production by real teams.
- Strong experience with Node.js, TypeScript, and modern web frameworks (React)
- Comfortable across the stack, APIs, integrations, and polished UIs
- Bonus: Atlassian Forge, AV/meeting room systems, digital signage, or lighting/networking (sACN)
- Self-directed, detail-oriented, and happy working remotely on defined projects
Freelance / Part-time
Sales & Account Management
Own client relationships from first conversation through deployment and beyond, helping organisations find the right BLD.Technology products for their needs.
- Experience selling B2B software or technical services
- Strong communication, you can explain complex products clearly to varied audiences
- Comfortable managing accounts, follow-ups, and long-term client relationships
- Interest in meeting room tech, logistics, signage, or operational software is a plus
Don't see a perfect fit? We're always open to hearing from good people at hello@bld.technology
FAQ
Common questions
Quick answers about how we work, what we take on, and how to get started.
What kind of work do you take on?
We build focused software products and deliver mobile, web, and application development when off-the-shelf tools don't fit. That includes custom integrations, ops dashboards, AV and control systems, production networking, and extending what we've already built to suit your environment. If you're not sure whether it's a product or a bespoke build, that's a good conversation to have.
Do we need to replace what we already have?
Usually not. We design around existing hardware, workflows, and platforms, the goal is to slot into what your team already runs, not rip it out and start over. We'll tell you honestly if something in your stack needs to change, but integration-first is the default.
Who will we actually work with?
Directly with the people who scope, build, and support the work, not a chain of account managers. For most engagements that's Alex, the founder. You get clarity on what's being built and a straight line to the person who can answer technical questions.
How does an engagement typically run?
We start by understanding how your team actually operates, the systems you rely on, the constraints you're working within, and what success looks like. From there we scope the right approach, deliver and configure, and stay involved through support and iteration as needs change. Timelines and shape depend on the project; we're happy to start with a focused piece of work.
What does consultancy cover?
Architecture, custom software, technical project leadership, AV and lighting integrations, production networking, vendor evaluation, commissioning, and long-term support planning. Our deepest experience is in live events and production, but the same approach applies wherever a technical project needs someone who can both design the system and build it.
How do we get pricing or start a conversation?
Use the contact form or email hello@bld.technology. A short description of your team, your environment, and what you're trying to solve is enough, we'll follow up with next steps.
Are you hiring?
Yes, we're looking for freelance developers and sales/account management help. See the Work with us section for open roles, or reach out if you don't see a perfect fit.
Let's work together
We build software and consult on technical projects. Reach out about our products, a bespoke build, or how we can work together.
Or email us directly at hello@bld.technology