The Samsung brand showcase store boldly reimagines the corporate showroom, presenting Samsung products as an expressive platform for collective creations. The challenge was to imagine experiences that shift the programmatic use of corporate space from the need to make sales to an invitation to play.
Our approach was to develop a series of visual displays that amplified visitor generated content, so their interactions were rewarded by visual spectacles rendered in light.
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As light is central to the experience of many Samsung products it seemed fitting to use illumination as a means of focusing attention at their showcase store in Seoul. The project included three large-scale illuminated installations; an interactive floor, a sound responsive wall and a grid of Samsung monitors for displaying user-generated portraits.
The largest of these was a floor packed with super-bright LED’s, programmed to display messages sent by visitors from a kiosk located nearby. Guests were prompted to write their own messages by responding to inspirational keywords that included “create”, “enrich”, “imagine”, and “invent”.
The LED floor was also designed to perform as a “green screen”, enabling the system to isolate and capture player’s bodies so they could then be superimposed onto games displayed on a large LCD screen. Gesture recognizing cameras built into the wall track physical movements, giving players the agency to drive vehicles, jump hurdles, or touch virtual objects. By placing guests center-stage we created the additional benefit of turning visitors into performers, helping transform the store into a space to play.
The theme continues with this 12‘ high louvred LED curtain wall that responds to music played on visitor’s mobile phones. The system automatically generates colorful patterns in response to the sounds of a favorite track. Visitors can either plug their phones to a cable, or transmit their choice wirelessly - translating rhythm and melodies into a generative light show.
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The Portrait Wall features an array of Samsung monitors arranged into horizontal and vertical patterns. Visitors snap a self-portrait using a Samsung camera, then tag their photo with an inspirational phrase selected from a touch-screen interface. The system automatically adds color effects and blends images with words, producing a montage of user generated content.
Ralph Appelbaum Associates
Samsung
I originated the interactive concepts for all three installations, setting out the visual approach, and storyboarding the experiencial flow of each installation.
