The outer surface of the robe is mapped in 2D space, though including the sleeves can be tricky. I assign locations by putting pixel numbers in cells in a spreadsheet, and can also control mirroring and tiling of effects.

I use custom hardware and software. All pixel mapping and effects are handled within my controller, I use DMX to select pre-set modes or send parameters to modify them

I was purposely avoiding patterns with full-brightness white, so reddening wasn't an issue. There is some more info about the project here: enlighted.com/p/boop

The lights are divided into 16 zones, with up to 250 pixels in each, no power injection needed (all strings have 2.5cm pixel spacing)

The robe draws a peak of about 8 Amps, and runs on two 2000 mAh rechargeable NiMH batteries

I used pebble-type neopixel strands, which are available from adafruit (though I buy elsewhere in larger qty)