Christie Digital Systems, leaders in innovative visual technologies, teamed up with Microsoft for two mixed-reality projects at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
‘Light Marketing’ and ‘Light Mural’ combined Microsoft Kinect technology with Christie projectors and software to create innovative visitor experiences at the Microsoft Beach Club.
‘Light Marketing’ warped images onto visitors in real time as they entered and moved around the pavilion, turning them into ‘living billboards’.
Chad Faragher, senior product developer, Software, Christie Digital, said, “‘Light Marketing’ can be used to show real-time content on people for shopping, concerts or installations and the point was to make it seem like a magical experience.”
‘Light Mural’ featured a 10ft by 4ft animated scene of beach life using Kinect, one Christie DWU951-Q projector with an ultra-short throw lens. When touched, the interactive mural sensed depth changes and came to life with pop-up images.
“We were interested in mixing Kinect with projection to create a perception-based experience, ” explained Rick Barraza, design strategy and creative engineering, Partner Catalyst Group, Microsoft. “When you mix projectors with a camera that can see and understand reality, dumb light becomes smart light, which is why I love this partnership with Christie.”
Christie engineers spent three months working with Microsoft on the two projects and were faced with a range of challenges including hot weather, high ambient light, salty air, no roof and a wooden floor that vibrated when walked on.
Barrazza: “It was great working with Christie because they try to explore what projection can do. They're very creative people. The project was a fascinating marriage between technology and creativity.”
