Brief:
Create an Augmented Reality competition-based installation to drive footfall to the newly opened O2 in Greenwich, South-East London, London's newest and most hi-tech entertainment venue.
Solution:
Inition's MagicSymbol technology was deployed in what was the largest ever augmented-reality-based campaign. Over 500,000 MagicSymbol promo cards were distributed around London's most busy stations, squares and markets over a 5 week period.
Mobile car-mounted screens allowed participants to reveal their prize using an augmented reality mechanic. Each of the cards were prize-winning. Participants held up their card to the camera to see it come to life on screen, and discover their reward. Prizes included 2 for 1 meals, free drinks and cinema, concert and sports event tickets at The O2.
After finding out what they have won, participants made their way to The O2 in Greenwich, where a third kiosk unit inside the venue itself allows them to redeem their card for a prize voucher.
AR and VR Open Day with InterSense Vcam and IS-1200
Ford C-MAX Launch Outdoor Augmented Reality Campaign
MagicSymbol Augmented Reality Application Launches Audi A1 Across UK
Red Stag Launches Augmented Reality Party Powered by MagicSymbol
Beam Global Spirits & Wine is launching an interactive augmented reality campaign for Red St
AR for Oral-B Pro Expert Launch
Inition were approached by GPJ to create an engaging Augmented Reality piece of animation that supports the launch of the new Oral-B tooth paste
The AR was shown at an industry launch of the new Oral-B Pro-Expert toothpaste, showcasing the revolutionary technology involved in creating the new product.
The AR piece was used to reinforce the key messages about the product from the presentations and videos shown at the launch, as well as allowing the user to get a quick and easy understanding of the key ingredients of the paste and what areas it tackles
Interactive Touchscreen Poster
To back up the launch campaign and the Augmented Reality piece, Inition developed and created an interactive touchscreen poster, allowing the user to navigate through the benefits of the new product and watch videos highlighting the 8 benefits that the new paste provides.
BBC Merlin AR Launch
For the launch of the BBC’s flagship Saturday night TV show Merlin, Inition were briefed to recreate the magic of the show using our MagicSymbol technology, for a joint cinema and website download campaign.
Installed in 10 cinemas across the UK, Merlin MagicSymbol Kiosks wowed thousands of cinema-goers with magical animation and exclusively shot video content featuring actor Colin Morgan in the title role.
Over the 3 week cinema campaign period MagicSymbol was deemed a highly successful campaign when compared to other marketing campaigns in the same environment, with 45% of cinema goers directly interacting with the Merlin MagicSymbol installation. Sample the magic yourself by downloading the software here(PC+webcam+printer required), or on the BBC’s Merlin site.
BMW Augmented Reality Campaign
BMW initiated an online augmented reality campaign to promote the launch of the BMW Z4. Inition worked with Dare to create a unique interactive online brand experience supporting the TV campaign in which a roadster is steered across a blank canvas with the tires providing paint trails and colourful ‘expressions of joy’.
Powered by Inition’s augmented reality technology MagicSymbol, users create their own ‘expression of joy’ online. Users can test drive a virtual 3D Z4 and record their paint trails via the webcam and upload images and videos of their creations to YouTube and Facebook.
Inition's / Dare's BMW AR campaign was rated number 1 in a run-down of the best AR campaigns in Brand Republic. See the run-down for yourself here (we also got the number 6 slot for our Toyota IQ campaign).
Read Revolution magazine's feature "Behind the scenes: BMW's augmented reality campaign" here.
Test drive your own Z4 here.
Ford C-MAX Campaign: AR with Gestural Interface
AR without the Markers
The Ford C-MAX augmented reality campaign ran for two weeks across ten shopping malls with over 125,000 curious shoppers interacting with Ford’s Grand C-MAX vehicle. A selection of on-screen icons allowed participants to explore various features of the car including 'Door Slide', 'Seating', 'Power Tail' and 'Spin' with a 'Minority Report' style gesture-controlled interface.
The brief demanded us to track users in the most natural way possible and allow them to ‘play’ with an interactive product advert. No markers or other symbols could be relied on. It also had to ignore people walking past while allowing precise control and selection from the interface.
Proof of Concept
Inition were approached by digital production company Grand Visual who asked if this was possible and thanks to our recent distribution agreement for the Panasonic D-Imager (a Microsoft Kinect-like depth or Z camera) we provided a simple proof-of-concept demo within one day which secured the project.
Over the next few weeks, our in house team of C++ developers developed an application based on OpenFrameWorks and OpenCV SDKs to code the real-time sensing and video display engine. A sophisticated blob tracking and depth thresholding algorithm sensed the participant's hands allowing the car to follow the user's movements. A flocking algorithm gave a fluid, graceful movement around the screen with the optimum amount of 'bounce'. Full HD resolution, portrait graphics, webcam capture, depth and video camera aspect matching and alignment, gestural user interface, interaction logging for usage analysis and hardware fault tolerance were added before going live.
Fine Tuning and Feedback at Every Stage
An important part of the project was the ability to "fine tune" and "play" with all the control parameters via an on-screen interface. On-screen debugging and depth camera modes allowed us to optimise every aspect of the interaction experience. Our development team provided regular “work in progress” videos and executable versions for the client allowing feedback to be incorporated at every stage.
Inition were present for repeated on-site testing with JCDecaux prior to deployment to ensure the software could cope with the rigours of the real-world environment. Issues included reflection scatter from glass shop windows which were tackled with temporal and contrast filtering of the depth image.
Check out the video above to see the installation in action!
Givaudan - Augmented Reality for Cannes perfume symposium
Inition created an augmented reality campaign for leading international perfumery Givaudan. Working with Amigo, Inition produced an augmented reality 3D piece to showcase their perfume and the main ingredients that go into creating their unique fragrances. The campaign was shown on a large screen at Givaudan’s perfume symposium in Cannes.
The participant holds up their invitation card to the webcam to start the interaction. A perfume bottle appears and the lid pops off to reveal a misty aroma followed by four of the main perfume ingredients: Mimosa, Bergamot, Iris & Jasmin. The ingredients then circle the bottle to demonstrate how the fragrance is created and then fall back into the bottle to form the key notes of the perfume. The bottle fades out to reveal Givaudan’s animated logo and strap line “Givaudan – Engaging the Senses”.
Kia Motors AR
To promote Kia’s new three door Pro_cee’d Inition created a MagicSymbol package for a custom kiosk that promoted the car, 7 year warranty and Kia’s new advert, supporting the “Designed to change your mind” campaign.
MagicSymbol AR: Launch of the Audi A1
After highly successful MagicSymbol augmented reality campaigns for BMW, Toyota and Kia, Inition were approached to deliver a new augmented reality campaign to launch the Audi A1 in showrooms across the UK.
Visitors were able to interact with a photorealistic model of Audi’s new hatchback before its official launch. By holding up a special Audi branded ‘MagicSymbol’ printed in brochures in front of kiosks, software would recognise the symbol and augment a fully detailed 360 degree model of the A1 as if it were parked on the brochure held by the viewer.
Inition’s skilled animators created the detailed image and animations of the car in 3D Studio Max using references from Audi’s original CAD data which were optimised for real time rendering.
Using proprietary algorithms, Inition created a fully realistic experience with no lag between the movement of the MagicSymbol and animation of the car.
Extending the experience to the home
Inition also extended the experience to the home. Users with a webcam could download an Audi logo that had been specially encoded for use with the MagicSymbol augmented reality technology. By printing it off and holding it towards their webcam, users would see the Audi A1 appear on their monitor and be able to interact with the car's features as if they were in the showroom.
By rotating the MagicSymbol, the car would rotate too and users could explore the car further by clicking on any of the on-screen icons such as “add panoramic roof” and “open the boot”.
Audi were so pleased with the results that they commissioned Inition to create a similar campaign for the Audi A7 Sportback where Inition added even further interactive features such as the ability for the user to change the paint colour and take the car for a ‘virtual test drive' using the arrow keys on their keyboard.
QineticQ Optasense Augmented Reality Installation
To promote QinetiQ’s new threat-detection and classification software, Optasense™, Inition were commissioned to create 5 MagicSymbol stand attractor animations that would effectively communicate the unique benefits of Optasense when compared to rival systems.
With this in mind the programmers and 3D artists at Inition combined video and audio synched with 3D animation to create eye-catching visuals which effectively drew the crowds to QinetiQ’s stand at the 2008 International Pipeline Exposition held in Calgary, Canada. The event was attended by delegates from around the world.
Tissot T-Touch Augmented Reality Application
Holition, Inition's sister company specialising in AR for luxury retail, has produced 8 major AR projects for Tissot. Holition works with the UK and Global teams to devise strategy, projects and digital solutions for the Tissot brand.
Holition's work with Tissot is a true partnership; their collaborative projects have been deployed globally including Selfridges, Harrods, Champs Elysees Paris, Corte Ingles Madrid, and most recently in Toronto.
Effects the application for Selfridges:
- 85% increase in sales at Selfridges
- 600% increase in PR
- 50K+ hits to You-tube in one week
- Drove global digital strategy
Watch the videos above to see the campaigns in action or try for yourself at: http://www.tissot.ch/reality/
Inition and Holition work closely together to develop core AR technologies that are deployed across a wide range of applications.
Toyota IQ - Augmented Reality
For the promotion of the new Toyota IQ Inition worked with digital agency Glue to create an interactive experience that engaged viewers.
Further development of MagicSymbol enabled the campaign to utilise new features, more effectively communicating Toyota’s brand message. To convey how much had been packed into the new IQ, an exploded view using over 200 separate parts of the IQ was animated, and in the end product, activated by rotating the card in front of the camera. To create the sensation of driving Inition set the directional tilting of the MagicSymbol card to enable the user to drive the IQ in a road setting that supports the dynamic visuals of Toyota’s new IQ campaign.
Try For yourselves at Toyota IQ
World Future Energy Summit Augmented Reality
The World Future Energy Summit was the setting for another remarkable use of Inition’s augmented reality MagicSymbol technology.
To fully explain the hydrogen energy process in an engaging way to prospective clients, Inition worked with Atticus to produce an animated hydrogen energy plant that would identify the various stages of the process along with the added environmental benefits in the form of carbon capture. After this animation some lucky participants were awarded prize.