The Brief
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.

Solution
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.

Results
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.

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
The brief from Ford demanded us to track users in the most natural way possible to 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.

FORD C-max DOOH AR campaign from Inition on Vimeo.

Solution
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.

Results

• Across ten shopping malls 125,000 customers interacted with Ford's Grand C-MAX vehicle. 
• Check out the video to see the installation in action!

The Brief
Platypus Productions approached Inition for help promoting the new "Grant's, try a different angle" campaign.

Solution
Inition created an unusual competition which ran in various clubs and bars in cities across South Africa, including Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

Participants were invited to try their luck at winning various prizes, from free drinks to iPods, to link with the campaign. Winners were determined by the angle at which a spinning Grant's Whisky bottle landed on their symbol card.

Results
As the photos above show, the competition drew in large numbers of participants eager to spin Grant's Whisky bottle.

The Brief
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.

Solution
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”.

Results
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.

The Brief
To partner with Winning Moves, owners of popular children's card game Top Trumps to launch its first ever 3D Augmented Reality

Solution and Results
The launch event at Hamleys Toy Store, London included 5 AR enabled packs with 10 packs in total now using Inition’s MagicSymbol technology to extends game play to an interactive on-screen experience. 

Players hold the cards in front of a web cam and Inition's MagicSymbol AR technology unlocks immersive 3D augmented content, posing new questions and displaying live stats as the player interacts with the computer. The first Top Trumps game to go 3D was 'Bugs' with a life-size tarantula jumping out of the player's hand. Inition developed all the 3D CGI work included character animation and interface design to enable user interaction and control. Inition developed a single app with user's ability to download new packs as they come online.

Other 3D packs include Horrible Histories, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), Transformers 2, Star Trek, Ben 10 Alien Force and Spongebob Squarepants. Check out the Top Trumps 3D site.