Sony
Experiential, Corporate Communications, Events
When launching a gadget fit for James Bond, Sony knew it could only be executed with an emerging technology befitting the gadget king of the spy world.
Introduction
To create a concept for the launch of the new Xperia in London 2012, Sony approached installation and exhibition designers Jotta. The electronics giant was keen to make a big impact with their hotly anticipated smartphone, which was due to feature in the biggest movie of the year, Skyfall as James Bond’s phone of choice.
Behind an unassuming door in the heart of Soho, the world’s most raucous party people regularly frequent The Box nightclub. Positioning the launch in the city’s most talked about VIP club, Sony and Jotta intended to create a party where 007 wouldn’t have looked out of place.
Brief
Central to this concept was a remarkable statement piece, which linked thematically to the phone’s powerful new gaming and music features, including a nod to the Sony Walkman legacy with an all-new interface.
Jotta looked to Pufferfish for an extraordinary event solution that would achieve this aim. An inflatable and interactive PufferSphere Pro 1.6M was placed in the middle of the club, under an impressive coloured dome. To a soundtrack of live music from urban artists such as hip-hop violinist Mr Adaggio, singer-songwriter Yasmin and DJ Goldie, the display invited guests to get tactile with Sony Xperia themed digital content on the sphere.
Solution
Squeezing something as impressive and dominating as a 1.6M-projected display solution into the rabbit warren that is London’s Soho would ordinarily be a big challenge, but Pufferfish’s specialist inflatable PufferSphere Pro systems are designed for exactly this kind of event application.
As the event kicked off, guests soon discovered that a touch on the display generated an animated musical instrument at their fingertips. Users could then playfully augment the existing video content by throwing a selection of instruments around the sphere until they eventually faded away; adding a magical element to the interaction.
Summary of outcomes
As the evening evolved partygoers including journalists, Olympic medallists, and the cream of the British music and TV scene were clamouring around the robust display to get involved with the content. A major hit, the PufferSphere contributed to an open atmosphere, starting conversations among strangers around the immensely popular ‘magic ball’.