THE BUSINESS PROBLEM WE SOLVED

Electric vehicle fans had extraordinary expectations for the second generation of Nissan LEAF. After the first generation had set the level high by becoming the top selling EV worldwide, the success of the second model depended strongly on the impressions and reviews of the very first people that were about to experience the new car.

As the automobile itself definitely exceeded the expectations with all its innovative features and upgrades our role was to emphasize and scale the new experience it provided.

WHAT WE DID

Electric vehicle buyers’ main concern may be distance travelled on a single charge, but their true dream is a vehicle that can transport them straight into the future.

They want a car that positions them ahead of everyone in terms of mindset and attitude. They are the visionaries, the early adopters. They are the first to experience anything in this world. And then they come and tell the rest of us what tomorrow is going to feel like. So we invited them to be the first to conquer the future.

Conquer the Future is an immersive sensory experience that reveals the advancement of the new Nissan LEAF by transferring drivers and passengers into a futuristic environment. It is a digital+physical installation that plays with human senses to create the feeling of driving in another dimension, free of gravity and limitations. It is a journey through a cosmic-looking 3D landscape. But with the real car. And the real you behind the wheel.

The specific conditions of this environment can be navigated only by the new Nissan LEAF with its innovative features - E-pedal, Pro Pilot and Pro Pilot Park.

This interactive experience was the main activity of the launch event for potential buyers, media and influencers. It remained open to the public for a few weeks after the launch and was communicated to the specific target group in social media during the same time as a free-entry participatory event.

HOW WE DID IT

We transformed a shopping mall space into a big-scale wrap-around VR set. We put the LEAF in the middle, between three huge screens, so that everything the driver and passengers could see from inside the car were the 3D projection mappings on these screens.

We connected the LEAF’s board computer and translated every input by the driver wirelessly to the system with Xbee Arduino, i.e. any action applied to the car controls (steering, pedals, etc.) influenced the 3D projections in real time. This created the visual sense of driving the LEAF through the 3D environment.

The gameplay represented obstacles that could be overcome and enjoyed only with the help of the new LEAF’s 3 key features - Pro Pilot, E-Pedal & Pro Pilot Park. The projection mapping was live generated by using GLSL shaders, instancing rendering and particle systems that worked together for a unique journey session after session. Speed was calibrated to simulate the flow of a spaceship in zero gravity. The illusion of weightlessness was created by hacking human vision with fast paced graphics and motion blur.

Nissan LEAF - Simply Amazing.