The 5 Experience was a launch campaign for Wrigley 5 Gum in South Africa. We created this campaign together with our friends at Tribal DDB South Africa. The 5 Experience gave us the opportunity to tap into the trend of 3D mapping projections, and create something truly unique.
SOLUTION
For the first time ever, we gave people the chance to create their own 3D-mapping building projection to a track by one of the key figures of the international electronic scene, Etienne de Crécy, who Rolling Stone calls ‘the next Daft Punk.’
The best participants were then rewarded with their creations being projected live onto two landmark buildings in South Africa.
Last October Y&R New York came to us with an intriguing proposition. They wanted to make a digital billboard for LG Electronics in Times Square – but not just any billboard, an interactive billboard with a digital creature living on it. The idea was that this creature would be fed on Good News (because, as LG tells us, “Life’s Good”).
CHALLENGE
We only had until about 8 weeks (2 weeks R&D, 6 weeks production). We would have to create a robust solution, integrating with external sources of “Good News” including an SMS service and building a CMS allowing for real-time moderation, as well as design a 3D character.
The character would need to feel really “alive”, requiring hundreds of animations. The system would also need to be flexible enough for us to expand it in the following 2 years, and the design and interaction design would need to be carefully thought through to attract attention in the clutter of Times Square.
Also, the board was huge – and had a curve in the middle, which was another challenge for the design team.
SOLUTION
We decided to use Unity 3D so we could work with realtime rendering and a high enough resolution. We also decided to create our character, called Gil, in both a “live” mode (using a costume) as well as in 3D. We then integrated our Unity 3D app with SMS messages, RSS feeds, and Tweets via a custom human-moderated Content Management System.
We also decided to create a “puppetmaster” mode so we could control the character sort of like a video game character for greater flexibility. We built a web app on an Amazon cloud server that took care of all the sources of Good News and then built a CMS that controlled all that data, statistics, settings and the schedule.
And last but not least we split the daily schedule into 5 minute segments, all customisable in the CMS, and mixed them with video “bumpers” and created a large library of animations and props that could be pulled into the Unity client from “The Brain”, an app we created to run on a local Linux server.
PARTNERS
Y&R New York, Mikael Emtinger, Motiviti/Pangaea, Zoink Games, Tobias Allanson, D3 LED, eModeration, Redrum
Last October Y&R New York came to us with an intriguing proposition. They wanted to make a digital billboard for LG Electronics in Times Square – but not just any billboard, an interactive billboard with a digital creature living on it.
The idea was that this creature would be fed on Good News (because, as LG tells us, “Life’s Good”).
CHALLENGE
We only had until about 8 weeks (2 weeks R&D, 6 weeks production). We would have to create a robust solution, integrating with external sources of “Good News” including an SMS service and building a CMS allowing for real-time moderation, as well as design a 3D character.
The character would need to feel really “alive”, requiring hundreds of animations. The system would also need to be flexible enough for us to expand it in the following 2 years, and the design and interaction design would need to be carefully thought through to attract attention in the clutter of Times Square.
Also, the board was huge – and had a curve in the middle, which was another challenge for the design team.
SOLUTION
We decided to use Unity 3D so we could work with realtime rendering and a high enough resolution. We also decided to create our character, called Gil, in both a “live” mode (using a costume) as well as in 3D. We then integrated our Unity 3D app with SMS messages, RSS feeds, and Tweets via a custom human-moderated Content Management System.
We also decided to create a “puppetmaster” mode so we could control the character sort of like a video game character for greater flexibility. We built a web app on an Amazon cloud server that took care of all the sources of Good News and then built a CMS that controlled all that data, statistics, settings and the schedule.
And last but not least we split the daily schedule into 5 minute segments, all customisable in the CMS, and mixed them with video “bumpers” and created a large library of animations and props that could be pulled into the Unity client from “The Brain”, an app we created to run on a local Linux server.
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PARTNERS
Y&R New York, Mikael Emtinger, Motiviti/Pangaea, Zoink Games, Tobias Allanson, D3 LED, eModeration, Redrum
Before there was the Kinect, we met with Adopticum and immediately got excited about the potential of the 3D camera technology developed by Optronic. We were especially keen on its ability to measure the distance between the participant and the camera, which led to an application being submitted to Vinnova requesting support to explore how we can apply the technology. Vinnova happily accepted the project and partly funded it with one exception; we had to focus on the visuals because the technology was still in development. They did not want any of the current bugs at that time to devalue the 3D camera capabilities when showcased in a public installation.
CHALLENGE
Since the 3D camera was still a very new and innovative piece of technology in 2009, it posed a usability challenge since there were no established references that people could refer to when they first interacted with the 3D camera. This became an immediate problem when we had to conceptually think of the different types of interaction for all users to adopt and understand. In the end, Optronic gave us directions to use as few joints in the body as possible to ensure successful feedback with the 3D camera.
SOLUTION
We began building an idea that we knew everyone had experience with by adopting a gameplay style that would resemble the old arcades because we knew this would help everyone quickly understand the intention of the project’s installation.
Now since this project was being supported by the local businesses in Skellefteå, it felt appropriate that the game’s characters would honor their hometown’s famous wood culture. So, we thought it would be cool to create these characters as wooden robots… that can fly!
As the idea grew around who and what these wooden robots were, it became easier then expected to build a full story around them. Additionally, the surrounding world that these Woodbots lived in easily began to come together with texture, colors and placement of the fabricated logotypes, which helped give the characters a racer attitude.
In the end, we combined the 3D camera with an 82-inch touch-screen that allowed the participant to be fully immersed in the games experience with defined gesture interactions that resemble skiing.
Meet Gil, Good News Ambassador for LG and New York’s latest digital inhabitant.
Today, Dec. 14, 2010, New York has a new digital landmark with artificial intelligence on Times Square.
His name is Gil and is a so called good news ambassador for LG and will be able to react to and present bits of Good News to the world.
His home is the first ever wraparound HD billboard, developed by LG which allows both a southern and west view to one of the world’s most visited streets.
Because Gil is animated in real-time 3D, instead of using loops of pre-rendered animations, he actually can respond differently to messages, weather reports or news feeds so that he feels really alive.
His behavior is influenced by the good news he receives. He will be fed daily good news from RSS feeds and user generated messages through social media portals or through SMS interaction. He also reacts to time of day, weather, and holidays or maybe he just watch the people on the street, living his own life on his own schedule.
This creates a unique interaction between people on the street and our character – when he smiles, you can’t help but smile back!
The installation at Skellefteå Airport is now built. It’s a fantastic feeling to see how your sketches become reality and it looks as good as you hoped for. Skellefteå Snickericentral (SCC) have done an amazing work, they are great cabinetmaker! The whole thing will be launched next week so I keep my fingers crossed from New York where I’m right now, that everything turns out good! We still have some minor problems with the technology but I think everything will work smoothly. We will launch the web version and some documentary movies from the Airport within a week I hope.
The very first test of the screen on place. December 10th, 2010, at 12:38 AM. Mia Vallmark, Project Manager, stands in front of the for moment only blue screen, like a digital gateway…
The technology is used in our interactive installation for Skellefteå Airport.
The students have written a paper about their findings so far that has been accepted at ICIET 2010 and that can be downloaded here: 3D motion capture using TOF
“This article describes inferences derived from practical and theoretical explorations regarding three-dimensional motion capture to develop numerous software applications using Time-of-Flight (TOF) range sensor camera. It illustrates a simple but complete solution towards the development of straightforward 3D motion controlled applications for different public environments.”
Find out more about the hardware and possibilities from our partners Fotonic.
See what Frog Design did with the technology at SXSW 2010.
WORK IN PROGRESS — For the moment I’m working as a Creative Director/ Art Diretctor / Designer with a little different project then I am used to. It’s an interactive installation that will be placed at Skellefteå Airport this winter. An installation where we will use a very interesting 3D camera technique and a huge 82 inch one-touch screen. If you have seen Microsoft’s Project Natal you maybe know what I’m talking about, it’s a 3D technique that can be used both in games and installation like ours, but also for instore installations, interactive shop windows and much more.
The 3D camera is developed and made by Optronic in Skellefteå and it’s using Time-of-flight (TOF) technology (can be explained as radar operating with light). More information about the camera at Fotonic.
“With the technology, the time it takes for a very short laser pulse to travel to a certain object is measured, allowing distance to be calculated with great accuracy. Using a unique sensor chip, the distance to each individual pixel in the scene can be measured, creating a complete three-dimensional image.”
This creates a unique interaction between people on the street and our character – when he smiles, you can’t help but smile back!
