The Looking Glass - A Holographic Canvas
Company Looking Glass
Introduction Date April 1, 2018
Project Website http://www.lookingglassfactory.com
Why is this project worthy of an award?
There is perhaps no sci-fi dream as ubiquitous and persistently just out of reach as the cinema dream of the hologram. Princess Leia in Star Wars, the Holodeck in Star Trek, Minority Report, Big Hero 6, Iron Man. The Looking Glass is the first system to go out in the market that is as close to making that dream real. The Looking Glass is a new class of genuinely three-dimensional display that combines the benefits of volumetric and lightfield displays into a single system. Groups of people can now see and reach into the holographic worlds that live inside the glass walls of a Looking Glass, and allows anyone in create and display digital 3D content in true physical space without VR or AR headgear. The launch of this new class of interface activates a transition from regular 2D monitors - as is used currently by 3D animators, 3D designers, architects, and 3D artists - to the next generation of truly interactive 3D interfaces. Looking Glass is a team of inventors, engineers, game devs, and out-of-work comedians chasing the dream of the hologram. These days, you'll find most of the team huddled over a Looking Glass prototype, a glimmer in their eyes - "THE HOLOGRAM IS NEAR!" - you may hear them whisper under their breath, before heading over to the local arcade to play Time Traveller.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
The Looking Glass is a combination of the unique optical hardware unified with a robust software Unity SDK. Whereas a VR headset generates two views at a time (to convey a sense of 3D for the viewer), the Looking Glass generates 32 different simultaneous views in order to allow groups of people without headgear to view and interact with 3D scenes. This is accomplished with a custom lenticular overlay mounted onto a 2560px X 1600px LCD screen. These 32 views are generated behind the scenes in real-time through the HoloPlay SDK (Unity). An optical block then enables the three-dimensional image to be pulled into 3D space, creating the illusion of a physical object in real life.
Who worked on the project?
Shawn Frayne (CEO) Alex Hornstein (CTO) Nikki Chan (Project Manager) Angus Fok / Alvin Lee / Kit Lam / Zheng Yan Guo / Fei Wong / Samtim Lin / Xia Yu / Evan Kahn (Hardware Team) Kyle Appelgate / Alex Duncan / Nolan Filter / Oliver Garcia-Borg / Ben Poynter / Jorge Daniel Hernandez / Michelle Senteio (Software Team)
View the project video: https://vimeo.com/266703504/468bbeccf5
The Neely Air drum machine shoe custom concept
Company Neely & Daughters
Introduction Date April 28, 2017
Project Website http://neelyanddaughters.com/portfolio-posts/neely-air-mi-adidas-roland-tr-808/
Why is this project worthy of an award?
Reaching a global online readership of 6.4 billion people and over 10.9 million coverage views and climbing, The Neely Air drum machine custom concept sneaker has the entire world stepping to the beat. The work of Margo Neely, Chief Creative Officer at Neely & Daughters, (independently created and not solicited by adidas or the Roland Corp.) was discovered online in 2017 by rabid fans and journalists, who enthusiastically embraced the concept and fanned the flames of a worldwide fire in both mainstream and social media. The still-growing viral phenomenon has garnered full-page stories, video tributes, awards, and fandom in nearly 350 major print and digital publications on every continent across the globe — GQ, Mixmag, MSN Lifestyle, Vice, Gizmodo, BBC Music, and Reddit, among them.The innovative beat making shoes captured the imagination of the press and fans alike, disturbing the peace with an additional estimated engagement of 54 million across all social media channels. A viral sensation for over a year (with no signs of stopping!), Margo Neely and her work at Neely & Daughters were Ask Audio's "#1 story of 2017" with over 2 million cumulative views, Mixdown's "Top Ten Innovative Products of 2017", featured as "viral wonders" in Quartz and on the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards blog, featured as DJ Mag's "trend" of March 2018, and nominated for a 2018 Gouden Kabouter Award for "Most Innovative Creative Campaign." View all Press/Link to complete coveragebook: http://neelyanddaughters.com/press/
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
Margo Neely, creator of the Neely Air custom concept sneaker and Chief Creative Officer at Neely & Daughters, independently sought to take the mi adidas "on demand custom shoe creation" concept to the next level and pay artistic homage to the legendary Roland TR-808 drum machine and the pioneers of Hip Hop — with a 21st century twist. Inspiration struck and she popped and locked at the chance to create the Neely Air TR-808* — inspired by the famous Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, break dance culture, and “808” (police code for “disturbing the peace.”) Not only do these kicks look fierce, but brace yourself: They actually. make. beats. The shoes are equipped with volume control and six different pre-programmed settings so you can recreate your favorite scenes from Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo in your mom and dad’s kitchen on a broke down cardboard box from Costco. An influencer and innovator pioneering the crossover and amalgamation of creative and branding in the fashion, music, tech, and lifestyle spaces, Neely’s drum machine concept shoes represent the future of both wearables and effective creative and marketing. View complete case study: http://neelyanddaughters.com/portfolio-posts/neely-air-mi-adidas-roland-tr-808/
Who worked on the project?
Margo Neely, Chief Creative Officer | Neely & Daughters
View the project video:
The New Europe: A Living Lab
Company Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design
Introduction Date September 22, 2017
Project Website https://www.cohere-4.com/living-lab/
Why is this project worthy of an award?
The New Europe is a living lab to explore the potential of interactive data visualisation and speculative experiences to deepen understandings of European identity, values and belonging - openly investigating this topic with the public. The New Europe’s interactive journey follows a path through a custom pop-up pavilion, where participants collaborate to create a new fingerprint, an alternative statement about their collective identity and perspective on European values for the future. When the digital world allows us to create and track multiple identities, when governments think of their citizens as data, we imagined an experience for citizens to directly choose identities and values, composing their own future Europe. As Europe’s population and borders are increasingly diverse could all of us residents, immigrants alike help shape a new Europe? We opened a physical space and we invited people to consider this issues. The New Europe | A Living Lab is one in a series of living labs created in association with the European Network of Cultural Centres - to experiment, co-create and test the interventions we are designing as part of our research for CoHERE. CIID Research's living lab supports our focus on how digital and creative-practice interventions can help investigate questions around European identity, heritage and dialogue on sensitive topics. If in the future, inhabitable land will be increasingly scarce, and increasingly diverse people need to live in increasingly closer proximity, can new approaches help us to shift from tolerating change to conscious co-existence? Through the New Europe Living Lab, we seek to inspire reflection and evaluation regarding the present state of identity, values and belonging, taking you on an interactive journey to generate new outlooks for an ever-changing Europe. In terms of methods, we conducted a series of expert interviews and readings about interactive feedback tools for visitors. We tested and refined the specific wording and types of information that visitors might need in order to give meaningful answers and interact with the concepts smoothly. Participants in the New Europe ranged from the very young to the very old, with a wide diversity of backgrounds and nationalities. We placed the living lab in a very ethnic neighborhood of Copenhagen where many immigrants lived alongside Danish young families. The entry was free and therefore many people simply wandered in as well as being invited over specific social media channels. We had over 100 inputs and documented the results in both data and one on one interviews.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
The New Europe’s interactive journey follows a path through a custom pop-up pavilion, where participants collaborate to create a new fingerprint, an alternative statement about their group's collective identity and perspective on European values. We begin by giving each group of visitors a "passport" that they will share as an input machine as they move through the three spaces of the pop-up - where they define their identity, values and sense of collective. Look Again | Identity In this first room, they will negotiate with one another to create a new identity, while seeing this identity reflected in an immersive distortion of light. As they place themselves on the sliders, a visualisation begins to build, arc by arc. Listen | Values In the next room, the group continues to build the arcs that compose their collective fingerprint. As they make certain choices on their sliders, they hear challenging statements from underneath the dome. These statements are culled from current affairs to historical documentaries, from politicians to everyday citizens. The issues represent a continuum of values as stated in the pamphlet Europe in 12 Lessons. Each voice has a slightly different perspective to share. The values that the group negotiates are not necessarily polar opposites - instead, they (and their associated voices) demonstrate crucial tensions. Part-Whole | Border Finally, after one last question, the explorers reach the last area - looking at their own "fingerprint" as it fits into a big grid of all the participants who have left an input thus far. This viewing area is in a hammock, a story above the previous input areas, allowing for a keen potential for reflection, sociality and relaxed discussion of why and how each fingerprint might have turned out as it did. Postcards to Europe On their way down the steps from the hanging platform, visitors were invited to leave a postcard with their hopes for Europe - or for the "New Europe" that they had been part of creating. PRODUCTION OR REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY (AND MATERIALS)*: We used d3.js and react.js to create a system where the visualisation that was being projected would synchronously react to the participants’ inputs to the iPads. At the end of the experience, participants hung out in a hammock at the top of the pop-up pavilion where they viewed the grid of “fingerprints” of responses from all of the other visitors thus far. This was immediately updating as soon as another person starting using the iPad app. The pop-up pavilion was built with all natural and recycled materials, with an overarching aesthetic of construction and “DIY” strength.
Who worked on the project?
Annelie Berner + Monika Seyfried - Principal Designers Together with architects Harry Clover and Fabian Puller (of ADAPT pavilion), designers Henriette Kruse, Eline Sorenson, Matt Nish-Lapidus and Cyrus Clarke, and with support from Newcastle University and Verdenskulturcentret, as well as design firm Accurat - CIID Research has created The New Europe as part of our work in project CoHERE, led by Newcastle University.
View the project video: https://vimeo.com/242068094
The Next Mobile Decade
Company Adobe
Introduction Date February 23, 2018
Project Website https://landing.adobe.com/en/na/products/experience-cloud/ctir-3861-mobile-study/index.html#/
Why is this project worthy of an award?
Over the last ten years, mobile technology has changed everything. That’s obviously true for consumers, but it has changed the business landscape as well. For this project — which was designed to share the results of a large study Adobe conducted of mobile leaders — we wanted to “show” instead of “tell” the power of mobile technology. Since we wanted to help enterprise business leaders understand the role mobile is playing with the peers, it was important that we deliver our data in an innovative and compelling mobile experience. In “The Next Mobile Decade,” we turn the traditional enterprise research report on its head, instead delivering a mobile experience that’s as fun to use as it is informative. For this project, before you are able to view the research, you have to customize your experience. In the beginning, we walk you through a number of decisions, such as how you like AR and a handful of other interactions that use the power of your mobile device to find your preferences. Then when you finally see the report, it’s customized to your mobile preferences. This hand’s on experience gives you instant understanding of mobile technologies rather than just talk about them in a report. And by making it an involved experience, we push the limits of what a report can become in the future.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
Beyond the unusual delivery of a research report in a mobile experience, “The Next Mobile Decade” pushes boundaries in a number of ways. Because we wanted the experience to be as accessible as possible, we developed the whole experience as a mobile website, instead of an app. In this mobile web environment, we were able to take advantage of a number of innovative mobile technologies, such as simulated augmented reality, accelerometer use, and customization based on the way the user interacts with the site. It's a pioneering experience in in-browser mobile technology that takes personalization to the next level. Machine Learning that creates a profile about you based on your interests. It uses measurements using the accelerometer, behavior, and interaction speed to determine the size and depth of report that you might enjoy. We use an AR color experience to provide even greater personalization. And powerful graphing API that allows a large variety of data interpretation. These technology innovations become part of the experience and can be adjusted and customized for every person. So, no report is the same. And everyone understands how mobile technology has changed over the past ten years. By pushing the limits of what’s possible in both mobile web technology and with research data, we think we’ve put together a mobile website pushes beyond all expectations. We recommend you view this experience on your mobile device, not desktop. The whole experience is built for mobile.
Who worked on the project?
Adobe: Josh Souter, Adam Morgan, Matthew Rayback, Steve Gustavson — Creative direction Lena Dibble, Robert Watson — Content strategy Loren Micalizio, Jeff Severtson — Video Stephen Montague — Project management Write On Network: Kim Grob — Creative direction Alex Fuller, Kim Smart — Writing We Like Small: Michael Kern — Creative Direction Kal Nguyen — Design Elan Bartholomew, Kyle Cummings, Luke Jensen, Anna Larson — Development Kari Juip — Production
View the project video:
The Raft VR
Company RED Games
Introduction Date March 1, 2018
Project Website
Why is this project worthy of an award?
THE RAFT VR is a unique VR gaming experience created for players of all ages and abilities. The game requires 4 players to work together as they battle their way down a creature-infested river. The raft itself is equipped with a full arsenal of weapons to fight against the river creatures, and even includes things like fire extinguishers, which can be used in the event the raft catches fire during a battle (hint). Once a player puts on their headset, they are transformed into a bona fide hillbilly with beards, hats, beer gut, and a no BS attitude! The game is visually arresting with heart dropping sound design and uses familiar game mechanics, which makes it ideal for experienced and first-time VR users alike. The game concludes with two epic battle scenes where all 4 players must work together to destroy the river-creature boss.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
The Raft is also unique because it uses VR as a compelling storytelling vehicle, and it employs strategic design elements that tackle challenges facing early-VR, including the potential for motion sickness and room-scale challenges. This game harnesses VR technology to bring people together, in real time, and asks them to work as a team to collaboratively navigate their environment. In the initial stages of our design, one of the players was responsible for "steering" The Raft. In later iterations, we eliminated this role and kept The Raft floating on it's own. This limited the amount of cross-directional movement that the players were experiencing, and ultimately allowed for a less bucket-inducing ride, in which players can focus on world we created, fighting the super natural creatures, and making it out of the swamp alive. In this game, players float down a river. As we concepted the experience, there was a lot of industry discussion about the room scale problem in VR (players can only take so many steps because they are tethered to their computer). Many games were limiting the space that players were in. The design choices we made allow players to move around within The Raft AND the environment. As the raft moves through space, players experience a much wider world than if there were limited to just the smaller area in which they could walk. Our goal was to make it intuitive to move around and explore the raft itself and also take in the environment we created. Additionally, this floating motion also creates a rhythm to the experience that sets players up to be awestruck by the Boss Battle. It's almost too late when players realize that their raft is floating directly into the mouth of the beast. This technique lulls players in a false sense of ease, and then asks them to fight for their lives.
Who worked on the project?
RED Games
View the project video: https://youtu.be/HkjDfC-T__Y
