LEGO had the wish to visualize the content of their boxes in a new and innovative way. In the retail stores is it a challenge to present the good LEGO experience to the children. Presentation videos may give inspiration but it is without interacting with the children. This resulted in a cooperation with CAVI and Alexandra Institute which started in 2006 with a design workshop that ended up with the concept LEGO out of the Box: When a box with a LEGO Bionicle figure is placed on the glass plate, a camera reads a unique graphical pattern (Reactivision technology) . Hereby the model’s identity and location is recognized and a 3D Bionicle model is shown on a screen in a true Bionicle universe. If the box is moved, the Bionicle figure will walk or fly along with the movement. If more boxes are moved close to each other the Bionicle figures will interact – if they are a pair, they will connect, if they are enemies they will fight. The computer generated animations are based on the 3D models which LEGO uses in the marketing and promotion of the products. CAVI had a contact with the shopping mall, Salling, located in Aarhus, Denmark, where the project was set up in six weeks around spring 2008. The developed prototype and concept is the direct foundation for a similar system that LEGO uses in 67 LEGO brand stores worldwide.
Alexandra Instituttet, alexandra.dk
Project leader , Rune Nielsen and Kim Halskov