Role: Creative Direction
Agency: 72andsunny
Prod. Company: Mediamonks
A VR experience demonstrating Dutch innovation, presented by the Prince of the Netherlands.
Startup Fest Europe approached MediaMonks and 72andSunny to help launch their event and demonstrate all the possibilities the Netherlands has to offer to the fast-paced Startup scene. This led to the idea of launching the event in true startup fashion: with an elevator pitch. The virtual reality elevator takes viewers on a Willy Wonka-style journey, showcasing Dutch innovation in the most vital areas to safeguard the future, such as biotech and water management.
The journey introduces viewers to a range of innovative startups that are active in the rural, urban and water areas. For instance, viewers will see a company that develops a way to generate electricity from wetlands (Plant-e), or a new kind of radiator that uses the heat from a computer server to warm your house (Nerdalize), and a technology that uses temperature differences between the tropical deep sea and the shallow waters to generate electricity (Bluerise).
In this experience both spatial audio, as well as line animations, play a key role in directing the viewer’s attention from one startup to another. With 2D line drawings we created 3d elements that explain the startup technology, which had to be seamlessly integrated with the flat, heavily distorted 360 imagery. With spatial audio, the added dimension of height and binaural filtering make sounds originate from above and below you as well as from the front and back. Combined with headtracking to keep sounds in the right place when the user moves their head, this contributed to a convincing immersive experience. Adding some stitching artistry and render fun to create a convincing elevator pitch.