Digital Interactivity Reaches New Levels

Posted on 21. Jul, 2010 by Matt Newell in Digital & Interactive

Disney is using this installation in New York (right near the rear entrance to Macy’s on 7th Avenue) to promote their latest epic wizard film - The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. But what’s particularly interesting here is it’s the first time I’ve seen ‘3D Gesture Technology’ (like the technology featured in the soon to be released Xbox Kinect) deployed in a promotional environment.

By simply standing in front of the plasma screens and gesturing appropriately, passers by can interact with the virtual environment in front of them. In this instance, entering a virtual wizard world where they can perform magic tricks like firing ‘plasma bolts’ or making mops clean up on their own. At the end of the experience, the user has the opportunity to have their photo taken, which gets superimposed onto an image of an apprentice wizard and uploaded to Facebook (the Facebook page currently has 115,000 fans).

The technology looks a little lumpy but I’m sure it will improve quickly. Just imagine the applications to a retail environment.

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