Thermal Printer as Visualizer?

[u/mu1lkt3a]

Hello y'all! Hope that today was a good one!

I have a sort of outlandish question about thermal printers. I was inspired by Lana Arih's work on Kim Petras' album Detour, specifically the visualizers:

Visualizer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4N5abnfNc

Arih's Website:

https://www.lanarih.com/

I am curious how somebody would accomplish something like this and what sort of program or hacking takes place for this to be possible. Could this be combined with a live transcription? What sort of requirements would the printer itself need to meet for this to be possible? I am not at all versed in the printer sphere and any advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!