It’s 6.50pm and a crowd is clustering around three Toyota cars on Hickson Road under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney. You expect crowds to be clustered around things during Vivid. But cars? As you get near, you hear it. The cars are purring.

Minutes later the Toyota Prius-es wake up. And then the real fun starts. Soap Creative has created Cars That Feel for Vivid. Each of these cars has its own personality and responds emotionally to human interaction. The cars play with people, using light projections, colour and sound.

VIVID Sydney “Cars That Feel” Time Lapse from Soap Creative on Vimeo.

The Cars That Feel idea was a coincidental fit with Toyota and its global concept of cars that show feelings. When the idea to join Vivid was put to Toyota, it  seized the opportunity to be involved.

The technology powering the cars was developed by Soap’s in-house development team over the past four months.  Each car uses six internal BenQ projectors, Arduino controllers and high intensity LED light rigs.  A custom application was build to control the internal projection mapping, lighting, sound and animation. Soap partnered with Bruce Heald and the team at Noise International for sound design and music.

“Soap is a collection of people who love to play, make and do,” explained Brad Eldridge, Soap Creative partner.  “We’ve always been fans of Vivid and we’re stoked to be able to contribute a playful, interactive digital experience that brings something new to the festival.”

Totoya’s spokesperson added, “Prius started a motoring revolution with its breakthrough hybrid technology, so it’s fitting that Prius is now the hero of such an innovative, creative and futuristic installation. Each of the interactive Prius hybrids at Vivid will allow festival patrons to explore a possible future relationship between people and cars – a future that embodies Toyota’s ‘fun to drive’ philosophy.”