Experiential

Nissan LA Autoshow.

Date

2019

Client/Agency

Nissan & Spinifex Group

Role

Creative Director, Design, 3D & Animation

Case Study Film - 2:00

The 2019 Nissan LA Auto Show booth was a large-scale interactive installation featuring four distinct experiences tied together through a QR-based tracking system. Every interaction was connected, every visitor was tracked, and all of the data fed into a post-show outreach system Nissan could use to follow up. Thousands of people came through over the course of the weekend. I was the creative director on the project, leading a team of seven across concept, design, animation, and production.

The Challenge

The 2019 Nissan LA Auto Show booth was a large-scale interactive installation featuring four distinct experiences tied together through a QR-based tracking system. Every interaction was connected, every visitor was tracked, and all of the data fed into a post-show outreach system Nissan could use to follow up. Thousands of people came through over the course of the weekend. I was the creative director on the project, leading a team of seven across concept, design, animation, and production.

The Approach

The answer was AR, but the execution needed to feel like more than a screen pointed at a car. For NIM Vision, I designed a system where large movable screens placed around the vehicle acted as windows into the car's technology. As visitors moved the screens around the car, different safety features would reveal themselves, rendered in 3D particle systems that highlighted each feature in space. The combination of animation and spatial sound made the invisible feel tangible, not like a product demo but like something you discovered.

NIM Vision UI Design Exploration

NIM Vision AR Look & Feel

The 3D assets were built in Cinema 4D and the AR and interactive layers were built in Unity. A lot of the design work was figuring out how the particle language could communicate technical information without feeling cold or clinical, it needed to feel like Nissan's design DNA while still being clearly informational.

NIM Vision Attract Loop Animation

GTR AR UI Designs

The GT-R photo experience worked on a different but equally considered logic. People waiting in line at a set of four touch screens would use the time to build their version of the GT-R, choosing color, physical features, and personalizing the scene. By the time they reached the front of the line, their selections were loaded and ready. A brand ambassador photographed them standing in front of the actual car, and AR content mapped 1:1 to the real vehicle was composited into the image in real time. The photo they walked away with was part real, part AR, and completely their own.

Experience Signage Designs

The Outcome

The booth ran across the full LA Auto Show, saw thousands of interactions, and generated a robust data set for Nissan to use for post-show outreach. Every visitor was tracked through the QR system, connecting their experience across all four activations and giving Nissan a clear picture of how people engaged with the brand across the floor.

Behind the Scenes Photos

Jeff Levine

Fake-Up

Creative Director, Designer & Artist