Creative reinforcement from Sweden

Posted on by Jeroen van Belle

NuFormer is an internationally oriented multimedia agency which has clients all over the world. It therefore doesn’t surprise anyone that we now have two interns walking around from Hyper Island in Sweden. Pavel and Anton (both 20 years old) are enrolled in the Digital Media program at Hyper Island. This program is a breeding ground for young and talented multimedia and interactive designers which is a perfect match with NuFormer’s core business. Curious to find out how they have experienced their first month we talked with Pavel and Anton to hear what they have been working on.

Anton

Pavel

Why did you come to NuFormer?

We researched the possibilities for internships at creative companies all over the world and what attracted us to NuFormer was that they are very clear about what they do. We had been talking to other companies for months, but with NuFormer we got our internship settled in 4 days. We really liked that.

Our program at Hyper Island is very broad and throughout our time there we have specialized in what NuFormer does, mixing video and technology, our biggest interests. NuFormer is a quite specialized small company, so we figured we would get to work on a lot of new projects and be part of the creative process, not just sit inside of a cubicle. Of course we wanted to go here because they do amazing stuff! Messing around with Kinects, 3D modeling, coding and compositing.

What do you want to learn here?

Everything we don’t know. Pavel wants to go more into the backend of 3D and Anton wants to learn more of 3D and interactive stuff. Also one of the most important things for us is that we get to learn more about the workflow and processes, here at NuFormer. How does a team of 15 people work together in producing a 3D video mapping or other creative productions?

How is the experience so far?

After one month here we realized that what we’ve been doing here at NuFormer was what we did in our spare time at Hyper Island. Our days pass quickly here since we do what we love. Also with the people here, it went better than expected. We feel very welcome here, we can ask questions and they can ask us, so we get to learn from each other. And lot of gamers here. That’s important. Pavel doesn’t trust non-gamers.

What is the biggest difference from back home?

That you don’t eat lunch here? Sandwiches are breakfast! Oh yeah, you also speak a different language here. That’s quite a challenge for us. Anton is also quite bummed that he can only have 4 screens.

NuFormer produces state of the art projects and always has an eye open for new uses of technologies. We love to work with interns, they bring in new influences and fresh insights which can make a product even better. As an internal project Pavel and Anton are researching additional features for our Mocap Mapping product. NuFormer is developing the techniques and tools on which Mocap Mapping is built, in order to be applicable for a broader range of clients and their marketing goals. We think Pavel and Anton can contribute to this project. But naturally, there is work to be done and it is not all play so they are also working along with the NuFormer team on ongoing projects.

Mercedes-Benz changed their perspective

Posted on by Jeroen van Belle

Chengdu – On August 30, 2012, the day before the Chengdu Motor Show (CDMS) in China, NuFormer performed another impressive interactive 3D video mapping projection. The interactive projection installation surprised guests as they were attending the introductory event of the new Mercedes-Benz B-Class. NuFormer proved again to continue the upward trend of innovations.

Adapting perspective

A regular 3D video mapping projection on a car creates the illusion of the projected images being displayed onto the car’s body. Using a new technique developed especially for this project, NuFormer went against this trend and created the illusion as if the video mapping took place inside of the car.

By projecting onto the front window from the inside out, the spectators could see several scenes being displayed in the interior of the car. A happy family watching butterflies flying through the car, a couple of teenagers having a water gun fight or a rock band performing a show.

Projecting onto the front window from the inside of a car is quite a challenging feat in itself, but NuFormer added even another layer to this experience. Specially designed programming allowed the spectator to change the perspective of the content inside the new Mercedes-Benz B-Class by using their body motions.

Setting-up

Projection onto windshield

Live 1

Live 2

Technique

The custom created software changed the perspective of the displayed content by motion tracking every movement of the spectator by using Kinect. The perspective of the projected content was determined by the position of the viewer’s eyes so that it corresponded exactly with what the viewer expected to see. When the viewer moved, the perspective of the content adjusted itself. From the spectator’s point of view, it looked as if the virtual front window was an extension of the real world!

Development

A lot of challenges had to be tackled to create such an innovative project. The difficulty did not only lie in the projecting from the inside of the car and finding the right material to project on, but also the tracking of the viewer’s eyes and adapting the perspective of the content in real-time took many hours of research and development. An earlier experiment called “The virtual living room” was executed in the NuFormer studio to investigate the feasibility of changing a perspective in real-time. This experiment formed the basis of this project.

Future development

The technique of adapting the perspective of the content to that of the spectator is very versatile and does not just lend itself for a car projection. Imagine a virtual window projected onto a wall that will give passersby a beautiful view over an imaginary landscape or a store window that displays endless shelves of the latest fashion in designer footwear. The possibilities are endless!

The storyboard and script were developed by Ogilvy Beijing in close cooperation with the NuFormer creative team. Our hardware partner CT Asia provided the technical expertise and hardware for this complex interactive projection installation.

NuFormer labs: The virtual living room

Posted on by Merel van Rens

NuFormer HQ – There are two main forces that drive NuFormer; creativity and innovation. The combination of these two elements has already fused a wide range of ideas that proved to be groundbreaking in the industry. Whether it is interactive video mapping projection using Kinect and iPad controllers or the highly interactive and versatile Mocap Mapping technique. One of the reasons this blog was created, was to share this passion for innovation and forward thinking.

The virtual living room

Here is a subtle NuFormer design that allows the user to experience new dimensions through projecting on walls or on objects. By using Kinect, the program tracks the movements of the user and steers the projection in such a way that the user will experience a 3D environment that corresponds precisely with his or her perspective, such as the living room setting in our example. Of course the design can be anything, from a space vortex to a rainforest and the projection can be branded or non-branded.