NAOMI BEATS
- Brand
- Nissan
- Year
- 2020
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Installation
- Agency
- Bascule Inc.
Objective
Nissan built NAOMI BEATS to put its Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) technology in players' hands rather than in an ad, as part of a pavilion meant to rebrand Nissan as a technology company ahead of the ARIYA electric crossover launch. Casting brand ambassador Naomi Osaka let the experience double as a showcase of her sponsorship deal and as a draw for Yokohama's Minato Mirai district under the city's partnership with Nissan.
Solution
Up to six visitors at a time step into THE THEATER, each handed a real tennis racket and facing a screen roughly the width of a tennis court. Naomi Osaka appears on-screen and serves at 200 km/h — too fast to track by eye — but an on-screen marker lights up the spot where the ball will land just before it arrives. Players watch for the cue and swing, and sensors read the racket and body position to judge the return, with the strike zone adjusted for each player's height and age so kids can rally too. A session ends with a souvenir photo of the player alongside Osaka on screen, printed with her autograph and the player's name.
- 1
Visitors must reserve a time slot in advance; walk-up play at the Nissan Pavilion screen area is not possible.
- 2
At the scheduled time, players enter a theater fitted with a 32-by-6-meter screen run by three 4K projectors and a floor that vibrates in sync with on-screen action.
- 3
Up to six players share a session, each handed a real tennis racket and lined up facing the screen, where tennis player Naomi Osaka appears life-size on court; sensors read each player's skeleton and height so the hitting zone fits adults and children without manual adjustment.
- 4
Osaka serves at a simulated 200 km/h, too fast for a human to react to on sight, so the screen overlays the ball's predicted trajectory and landing point, showing the player where to swing before it arrives.
- 5
The player swings the racket at the indicated spot; an infrared camera tracks the racket and registers a hit on correct timing, sending the ball back into a rally that continues until the point ends.
- 6
Even with the trajectory cue, connecting with the serve is hard, and players often miss.
- 7
Each session closes with a souvenir photo of the player and racket posed against the screen next to Osaka's image, printed with her autograph and the participant's name.
