It may not have been as obvious as Japanese athletes grabbing gold, silver and bronze for their performances at last month's Rio Olympics, but Japanese companies had their share of time to shine during the event.

Viewers oohed and aahed as images of buildings and apartments projected on the field shrank and expanded while performers jumped on the rooftops during the opening ceremony on Aug. 5, thanks to Panasonic Corp.'s projection mapping technology.

Panasonic, one of 12 companies worldwide granted sponsorship rights by the International Olympic Committee, used 110 projectors for the event at the Maracana Stadium, four times the number used in the 2012 London Olympics. To prevent the performers' shadows from appearing, it projected the images from four directions, making sure all images fit perfectly together.