Finalists for LAVNCH [CODE]’s 2nd Annual Out of This World Experiences Awards (OoTWEA) have been chosen and it’s time for you, our readers, to choose the winners.

Click here to vote for your three favorite installations (VOTING ENDED ON APRIL 7). The three installations with the most votes will be crowned the winners with two installations being named runners-up. The winning installations will be publicly announced on LIVE on rAVe [TV] on April 12, 2023.

Editor’s Note: Installation descriptions for the Out of This World Experiences Awards were provided by contest entrants.

Dior Atelier of Dreams AR

Location: Paris, France; Seoul, South Korea

Submitted by: BUCK

Integration Firm: N/A

Why It’s Out of This World: Dior wanted sparkle and shine for the holidays, so BUCK collaborated with Meta on the Atelier of Dreams Meta Spark and Instagram AR Activation.
Four site-specific experiences in Seoul and Paris, an at-home experience, and a point-of-sale experience across hundreds of locations adorned and transformed multiple environments through a blanket of stars, glittering artworks, and ornate visual feasts.

To keep the AR effects performant, BUCK kept the animation loops for its seven figures short and slow. The company used baked animations for more complex assets that required it, like the constellations. They programmed particle animations and texture transition animations in Spark directly to fit within our constraints. BUCK compressed all textures to work within the data budget before bringing them into Spark. Since they used multiple 4k and 8k textures for the sky domes in the scene, they used a custom patch to string together various 1k textures.

The defining feature of the Dior Stars is the product reveal/disappear transitions, which went through several rounds of experimentation and design to get just right. To synchronize with the client’s vision, BUCK opted for a simple fade-in/fade-out of each of the main elements: the product materials, the constellations, and the filigrees. BUCK combined Fresnel effects with custom glass shaders using multiple layers of render passes to simulate glass in real-time rendering with reflection and refraction faithfully. This combination helped create a differing reflectance on the surface of each product depending on the angle from which the viewer stood.

LEGOLAND California Resort

Location: Carlsbad, CA

Submitted by: Dimensional Innovations

Integration Firm: Dimensional Innovations

Why It’s Out of This World: LEGO Ferrari Build & Race is an edge-of-your-seat, out-of-this-world racing adventure, offering a whimsical and exciting experience that puts children of all ages behind the wheel for a race they’ll never forget. Integrating history, education, technology and hands-on interaction, LEGO Ferrari Build & Race creates a physical, digital and content-rich attraction unlike anything most have ever experienced. Three interactive zones bring the space to life and offer a drastically different yet uniquely-interwoven encounter, keeping LEGOLAND adventurers engaged and excited. As the checkered flag waves, may the best LEGO Ferrari win!

Lightroom

Location: London, U.K.

Submitted by: disguise

Integration Firm: 59 Productions

Why It’s Out of This World: Lightroom’s inaugural David Hockney exhibition is proof that immersive shows can change the way we view art. For attendees, it meant no longer fighting crowds for a glimpse at static paintings. Instead, they were able to sit in rooms that were completely surrounded by Hockney’s art. Visitors could see each brushstroke close-up while listening to Hockney’s narration describing his creative process throughout the show.

For Hockney, it provided a new way to tell his story. He was able to control the immersive experience as well as his narration, so that anyone seeing his art could experience it in a very personal way.

Madame Tussauds Berlin

Location: Berlin, Germany

Submitted by: OpenEye Global

Integration Firm: Bentin Projects

Why It’s Out of This World: Injecting elements of visual enthusiasm into a small space is always a challenge. Taking on the task of making guests feel connected to a story is a challenge in itself. With this project, OpenEye Global was tasked to create a visual sequence that would bring various figures to life while extending the scenes to immerse the audience. This required using corresponding video walls for the visuals, a custom soundtrack to add a layer of energy, and a specific lighting sequence to amplify the visuals on the center corner display.

Mohammed VI Polytechnic University

Location: Morocco, North Africa

Submitted by: Peerless-AV

Integration Firm: Cegelec Maroc

Why It’s Out of This World: From anticipating construction delays to designing the mounting structure from architectural plans, the project required close attention to detail and coordination between the Peerless-AV, Samsung France, and Atrait Consulting teams. There were many technical constraints, one being that the lintels intended to hold the structure were on a discontinuous part of the wall. Aligning the pixels on the dvLED panels was also a challenge due to the auditorium’s structure. In just two weeks, Peerless-AV used unique and proven techniques to install the frame and the cabinets.

The curved dvLED video wall consisted of 183 x 5 (915) Samsung IFH-E dvLED cabinets in 2.5-pixel pitch, or 288ft W x 9ft H, within a fully floating cylinder measuring 105 feet in diameter. The result is a one-of-a-kind dvLED video wall, a turning point for Africa, that can be used for autonomous and customizable presentations. With the touch of a button, the auditorium can launch a complete audio-visual performance. The auditorium’s ceiling comes alive with dazzling projection mapping and the audio system circulates sound all around.

Recess Chicago

Location: Chicago, IL

Submitted by: AV Chicago

Integration Firm: AV Chicago

Why It’s Out of This World: AV Chicago began working on concept renderings in April 2022 for what was to become an immersive LED cube built upon an existing shipping container-style pergola outside Recess, a Chicago-based restaurant and bar that served as host for the event. The cube consisted of three sides filled with Theatrixx NOMAD 2.6 LED paneling and 12 strategically placed speakers based on each side’s unique configurations. It was specifically designed to show multiple baseball games simultaneously on each side so the finalists could focus on the specific games they were betting on. DirectTV helped provide access to every game, ensuring no one was missing out on any of the action.

Telus Spark Science Centre

Location: Calgary, Canada

Submitted by: Solotech

Integration Firm: Solotech

Why It’s Out of This World: Thanks to the eight Christie Griffyn 4K32-RGB projectors, the Infinity Dome now offers the brightest planetarium experience in North America.

“When you see eight 34,000 lumen projectors perfectly calibrated, it’s mind-blowing,” said Philippe Giron, account manager at Solotech. “The client brought in international expert consultants Bill Peters and Ian McLennan. They were impressed with the work we had done.”

According to Solotech, “The new RSA Cosmos – Konica Minolta/Solotech system in Calgary provides a world-leading combination of brightness, color saturation, and resolution. Audiences are delighted by the clarity and quality of the images.”

The National WWII Museum

Location: New Orleans, LA

Submitted by: Panasonic Connect

Integration Firm: Mousetrappe and Solomon Group

Why It’s Out of This World: First-person accounts are so powerful when teaching history. As the Greatest Generation who fought in and were affected by World War II continues to age, it has become all the more important for educational institutions and museums to find new ways to tell the history of the war and make a lasting impression on younger generations. The WWII Museum’s Expressions of America experience tackles this challenge creatively, developing a unique sound and light exhibit that immerses visitors into the real-life thoughts and emotions of soldiers who fought in the war and those who contributed to the war effort here, at home. Combining Panasonic projection technology with the unique architecture of their space, the exhibit reimagines the way in which museums communicate history by taking advantage of powerful visuals, written words, songs, and personal reflections of the WWII generation. Expressions of America ensures these individual stories and experiences live on for years to come thanks to the Museum’s partnership with Panasonic Connect and the use of innovative projection technology for immersive storytelling.

Orlando International Airport – Terminal C

Location: Orlando, FL

Submitted by: Electrosonic

Integration Firm: Electrosonic

Why It’s Out of This World: This exhilarating space redefines the way experience design and experiential technology can transform an international airport. It’s exciting, engaging and sets the standard for passenger experience for the next decade.

For passengers arriving or departing, the message is clear, “You’re in an amazing place and we want you to keep coming back to our airport”. That message comes across in unmissable terms on Windows on Orlando—three giant floor-to-ceiling displays that attract attention as soon as travelers enter the terminal.

There’s also entertainment too in The Moment Vault, an immersive, interactive 360-degree space. At first sight, travelers think it’s a just series of panels displaying content but, when they move inside the space, they find they’ve become part of the show.

Behind the scenes, an innovative AI-based motion tracking and processing system captures travelers’ images in 3D, translating their movements in real time into digital wireframe silhouettes that become part of the display. The displays feature hours of original, extremely-high-resolution video of scenes that celebrate Orlando, creating a first-of-its-kind digital public art installations in an airport. These inspiring, engaging experiential spaces are a major differentiator for the airport operator, ensuring Orlando can attract even more passengers and airlines.

Summit One Vanderbilt

Location: New York, NY

Submitted by: Electrosonic

Integration Firm: Electrosonic

Why It’s Out of This World: Summit One Vanderbilt is a unique visitor experience that redefines what a skyscraper can become. Naturally, it’s a prime business hub, but now it’s also a major attraction, the coolest event space in town and one of New York’s most popular visitor destinations. That really adds value to the property.

With 26 exhilarating spaces to explore on a seamless experiential journey, visitors are immersed in choreographed audio and light installations, 3D soundscapes, large-scale interactive video walls, awe-inspiring projection mapping, and highly personalized interactivity—not to mention the unsurpassed views of the New York skyline.

There’s technology innovation all around, like the 3D soundscape that creates different audio experiences in every part of the Transcendence space or the mind-blowing ‘face in the clouds’ surprise on the 92nd floor.

The cloud experience captivates audiences and is an outstanding example of innovative data-driven personalization. It features complex integration between the video wall and 3D face-scanning systems that capture high-resolution 360-degree visitor images, process them in real time, and transmit data to video controllers. Finally, data from each visitor’s wristband is collected by a scanner that transmits a signal to the controllers, which process the correct image for display in the clouds.

Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow AR

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Submitted by: BUCK

Integration Firm: N/A

Why It’s Out of This World: Visitors to The Broad are greeted by Murakami’s mascot, Mr. DOB, who floats on a cloud over the lawn of the plaza, surrounded by blooming and smiling Ohana flowers. This site-specific location is designed to celebrate the iconic facade of The Broad, a perfect backdrop to the festive scene. This activation, created by BUCK, was also accessible to the public, expanding the reach of the exhibit beyond ticket holders.

One of the benefits of AR is it allows museum curators to put on a bigger and more ambitious show than budget might allow. There was a desire to include in the exhibit Murakami’s giant-sized Demon sculptures (Embodiment of ‘A’ and Embodiment of ‘Um’). They were traveling at the time and it wasn’t possible to get them to Los Angeles. By building them in AR, Mr. Murakami and The Broad Museum did not have to compromise their vision to have them included.

Help LAVNCH [CODE] Choose the 2023 Out of This World Experiences Award Winners

You’ve seen the entries—now help us choose the winners via our online voting system. Click here to vote for your three favorites (VOTING ENDED ON APRIL 7). Winners will be publicly announced on LIVE on rAVe [TV] on April 12, 2023.

The Out of This World Experiences Awards winning entries will be shared in a LAVNCH [CODE] article, on social media, and with our subscribers in an email blast.

Promotional opportunities are available for winners—interested parties can contact Josh Gangway at josh@theraveagency.com for more information.