Needs and Goals

In order to announce Nissan’s corporate goals for 2030, including a complete electrification of their car line-up, a new format of presentation was desired.

Nissan’s typical presentations were simple slides to on a bare stage, which would not do well to convince audiences that Nissan was an innovative company that has and can furthermore champion cutting-edge technology.

As the project was meant to be a part of Nissan Futures 2021, the whole setup was required to be done at the Nissan HQ Gallery.

Having suggested robot controlled LED panels and a virtual studio (giant LEDs creating a virtual background with real actors on it) the virtual studio was chosen.

Design and Challenges

At the center of the planning face lay two challenges.

1. What environment were we to build for the speaker to be in
2. what kind of way was the presentation itself going to be shown in within this 3D space

Planning Phase

As the method of delivery was both physical as well as digital, we suggested the idea of the Engawa, the balcony or porch of a traditional Japanese house, signifying a space both inside and outside, between all things.

This kind of space would allow us to both create a digital space that is both simple yet beautiful, allowing us to place the speaker somewhere specific, yet use the infinite backdrop as a canvas for the presentation, without creating too much interference.

As for the other spaces, we suggested modern architecture structures that could show just how advanced yet how close the future of 2030 would be. Furthermore, the technology of the virtual studio would allow us to place 3D objects including the concept cars beside the speakers, and have them look like they are truly appearing right beside them in real space.

This means that the space these are placed in must be relevant to them. Showing a glimpse of the future seemed the best option.

There were also ideas of having a floating map or compass that would guide the speaker through the topics in a ‘physical way’ but none of these came to pass as they all ended up being too complicated.

Production Phase

After long discussions with Nissan, and an Odyssee of interior and exterior spaces, we could finally agree to the below 4 spaces, as a part of the story.

Having still not seen a single clear piece of the final presentation slides, there was no base to synchronize these with the content, and the production team was behind on schedule to produce these spaces.

The System & Technical Check

The virtual studio system is a system the contains of 1 or more LED surfaces, that combined create a stage that a real person can step on, but is then surrounded by a completely digital background.

Furthermore, by linking the camera to the system, the perspective of the virtual 3D background can be adjusted on the fly.

In the video below from the preemptive tech check, the blacked out area is the are that is not visible by the camera.

Furthermore, 3D Augmented Reality layers can be added over the background, so further add depth.

As the display virtual background can only be adjusted for perspective towards one point, only the main camera perspective provides the correct way of displaying the virtual world.

In the below video from the on-site recording preparation, the L shaped 2 LED screens can be seen including the real world outside the screen. The optical illusion with the vehicles being visible as if behind a window can be seen.

Furthermore, it is possible to simulate 3D objects being placed even beside the speaker, as if they were real objects in space and close enough to touch. While one has to make sure the speaker does not accidentally stand on the optical illusion, the two video below show just how real this can become.