Overview
The IBM “Think” exhibit is a sprawling, multi-platform interactive experience echoing IBM’s ethos – exploring how our world works, and sharing insights that elevate our understanding of how we can make it work better.
As the Senior Creative Director for Mirada on the project, I led a team of Creative Directors, Art Directors, animators, designers, programmers, writers, and other artists to create this celebration of innovation. The project consisted of a 10-minute film, a massive data visualization wall, and large-scale interactive touch screens, all connected by the concept of visualizing how progress happens.
The project, conceived by SY Partners and IBM, set out to celebrate IBM’s centennial in the spirit of the historically renowned IBM Pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair. Every experience involved pushing the boundaries of technology and linking systems that had never been used together. From the 123-foot-long real-time data wall to the custom-built camera system used for the film, every step demanded innovation, testing, and the talents of a wide variety of artists and technologists.
The result was a groundbreaking exhibit that debuted at Lincoln Center in New York City, receiving numerous awards and national coverage in:
New York Times, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Creativity Online
IBM Centennial Film
The THINK film at the heart of the exhibit highlights the patterns that great thinkers follow to affect positive change in the world around us. I collaborated closely with my team and creative leaders at SYPartners to originate a new visual language that fused intelligence, progress, and – because we hope that technological advancements will ease suffering and make our lives better – hope.
We captured more than 300 hours of live-action scenes from a dozen countries, focusing on highlighting the paradigm-shifting advancements in technology and science, and how they affect individual lives. The shoot utilized a custom three-camera rig designed to create a more immersive experience for viewers, who saw the film on 40 monumental 85-inch, dual-sided HD screens configured to create a 360-degree experience.
The design and visual-effects work was equally epic, with an intricate-yet-poetic design language representing exploration and progress, custom-created to match the underlying ideas and movements of each theme. Likewise, we created entirely CG passages, such as a space sequence that pays homage to the classic Eames film Powers of Ten by taking us from the cosmic scale to the microscopic scale in 2 ½ minutes. Through it all, our mission was not just to create great visuals – but to create visuals that enhanced the emotional, conceptual, and intellectual experience of the film and exhibit.
Data Wall
In addition to applying our new visual language to the film, we also used it to create an interactive data visualization wall that turned real-time environmental data into intricate and beautiful design patterns. This monumental 123 x 12 foot, 1.2 million pixel LED wall was designed both to work as a pure aesthetic experience, and also to reflect the themes and story elements visitors would encounter once inside the film. For instance, the real-time visualizations of actual traffic patterns and air quality illustrate how data analysis helps the city identify flaws in its utilities infrastructure and, ultimately, explore solutions for operating more efficiently.
Deep Dive Interactive
After the THINK Film concludes, each 85-inch screen reveals itself to be an interactive touch platform for visitors to navigate and explore the themes of the film. One of the main challenges we had to answer in this section was in transforming a passive visual language into a visual style that inspires the viewer to become an active explorer.
At the heart of the message we shared was IBM’s paradigm for how progress unfolds with the principles of SEEING, MAPPING, UNDERSTANDING, BELIEVING and ACTING. Each section required its own design, animation, and interface – unified, but also reflecting the unique nature of that step in the process.
SEEING presents an interactive timeline reaching back through history, representing an overview of where science has been, and gathering data. MAPPING allows for an active journey through images from the past and present that illustrate how maps organize information, helping to advance commerce and science. UNDERSTANDING enables visitors to chart the story of what humans do once they have information – organizing it, and projecting where developments might lead. BELIEVING features life-size scale interviews with leaders in social science, medicine, and economics – illustrating how belief and communication can affect change. Finally, ACTING explores the question of what we do with all this information. An interactive globe appears with nearly 100 pins, each linking to a robust transmedia case study of a current real-world project that illustrate progress made possible through the use of technology, research, information – and the inspiration of imagination, vision, and action.