Originals Neighborhood
- Brand
- Adidas
- Year
- 2010
- Objective
- Sales
- Industry
- Fashion & Beauty
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Apollo Studios
- With
- Sid Lee
Objective
adidas Originals built the AR Game Pack to give its Spring/Summer 2010 "Celebrate Originality" line a reason to be bought as the real thing: five sneaker models and two apparel pieces carried a printed AR marker that unlocked an exclusive digital world, tying the purchase directly to access. The season's first game doubled as promotion for the adidas Originals × Star Wars collaboration landing in stores that same season. Being first to build an augmented-reality experience into the shoe itself also won adidas press coverage as a technology innovator at no media cost.
Solution
Player holds an AR Game Pack sneaker's tongue (or the matching apparel's sleeve) up to a webcam on the adidas promo site, and a 3D adidas Originals neighbourhood rises out of the shoe on screen. Turning and tilting the sneaker in hand pans and zooms the view of the block, with a brand ambassador guiding the tour. Over the season three games unlock inside the neighbourhood, each played by moving the shoe like a controller: a shooting gallery against Stormtroopers from the Star Wars collection, a skateboard run through the block's alleys, and a DJ-style rhythm game played by "conducting" with a pair of sneakers. Clearing a game earns a downloadable AR trophy and an entry into a prize draw; anyone without the actual pair can print a sample marker from the site and try a shortened version.
- 1
Entry requires owning a piece from the adidas Originals AR Game Pack — one of five sneaker models (Superstar, Stan Smith, Forum, Nizza, Samba) or one of two apparel items, each printed with a square AR marker. Players without the gear can instead print a scaled-down "teaser code" from the adidas.com/originals/ARneighborhood promo page.
- 2
The experience runs in a browser on an ordinary computer: the player opens the promo site and grants webcam access, with no app or headset required.
- 3
The player holds the marker — the shoe's tongue or the apparel's sleeve — up to the webcam. The code is recognized and a 3D adidas Originals neighborhood renders on screen, appearing to grow out of the real object in the player's hand.
- 4
The shoe (or garment) itself is the controller: the player rotates and tilts it to change the camera angle, and moves it toward or away from the webcam to zoom, turning a flat webcam feed into a navigable 3D space.
- 5
A brand-ambassador character from the "Celebrate Originality" campaign guides the player through the neighborhood, which recreates the Spring/Summer 2010 campaign's sets. Over the course of the season three separate games unlock inside it in sequence, each tied to a different cultural or product story from the campaign, drawing players back for new content.
- 6
The first game, themed around the adidas Originals × Star Wars collection, has the player aim the shoe like a controller to shoot at stormtroopers; afterward the webcam snaps a photo of the player with the shoe, digitally adding a stormtrooper helmet.
- 7
The second game is a skating challenge in which the player steers a skater through the neighborhood's alleys by moving the shoe as the controller.
- 8
The third game is a music mode in which the player uses the shoes as a DJ console at a virtual mixing booth.
- 9
Completing the games lets the player download AR "trophies" as souvenirs and enters them into a sweepstakes for larger prizes.
