For the Internet of Things to become the everyday way of doing things, it has to be demystified. Who better to do that than the Family Guy…well, Samsung via the Family Guy?
The idea comes from BBH London, which has created a platform called The Doorways to achieve it. The Doorways is a way for people to come to grips with the potential of a fully connected home – and help Samsung’s ranges of mobile devices, home appliances, TVs, tablets and computers become a major part of that.
People use a Samsung device to enter a special Doorways display area. The Family Guy game is then overlaid on the location using AR. By mapping the physical space to the virtual Family Guy house, players can walk and look around as they would in real life. Their phones acts as a lens into the interior of the Griffin’s house containing Samsung’s Intelligent Home devices. Each player then receives a series of tasks in a story featuring Family Guy’s main character, Peter Griffin. These tasks show how connected devices can work together to make life easier and better.
For example, the player will be asked to find some “classy dinner music”. They select Spotify on a display panel on the fridge and will then be guided by Bixby to the front room, where music will automatically transfer to the television and the lighting will change accordingly – demonstrating how Samsung’s music continuity system works and a device group control work. Players will also be taught how to connect their TV to their fridge to view its contents and select ingredients, connect to their oven to turn it on, set their washing machine to run and reduce the temperature of their fridge to chill wine.
Ian Heartfield, chief creative officer at BBH London, commented, “For many consumers smart devices and the Internet of Things can seem like a complicated concept. It can be difficult for them to see what these devices can do and how they can all work together to benefit them. This need to bring it all to life for consumers is why we developed Doorways. Harnessing AR and the wit of Family Guy gives Samsung a unique solution to a complex challenge.”
The development of Doorways was made possible hrough a collaboration between MediaMonks, the creative digital production partners, and the Family Guy production team partnering with BBH on the narrative and experience. Google provided both technical consultation and its AR Core technology to power Doorways.
Martin Verdult, managing director, MediaMonks London, explained, “AR technology has already graduated from a gimmick to becoming a proven added value for innovative brands. It’s a great way to communicate with consumers in the always on, connected world. We enjoyed collaborating closely with BBH’s creative team on using our AR capabilities and production power at its best to work this tech into the fascinating world of IoT.”
Olivier Rabenschlag, head of The Exploratory at Google, added, “The ability to connect the physical to the digital world through AR is what got us excited about this collaboration in the first place. Augmented Images in ARCore let you build AR apps that can respond to 2D images, such as posters or product packaging, in the user’s environment. In this instance we are using a physical door from the Family Guy universe as the entry point into an immersive experience and a completely new way to tell a story.”
The Doorways platform will be rolled out at major tech events across the world and prominent locations in cities such as London and New York. The Family Guy AR game will be the first in a series of collaborations with major entertainment properties to teach consumers about IoT.
Credits:
Creative agency: BBH London
Chief Creative Officer: Ian Heartfield
Group Chief Marketing Officer: Adam Arnold
Creative Director – Brand Experience: Ross Mawdsley
Associate Interactive Design Director: Niek Van Wingerden
UX Designer: Amy Andrews
Strategy Director: Lilli English
Managing Partner: Carly Avener
Managing Partner, BBH Shanghai: Joanne Liu
Head of Entertainment, BBH LA: William Swann
Business Lead: Claudia Wallace
Account Director: Natalie Barry
Account Executive: Kate Sotheran
Producers: Susan Liu & Melissa Thompson
Assistant Producer: Shail Mehta
Creative Digital Production Partner: Mediamonks
