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CHRYSLER MOTORS

'Beneath the Surface' - (Oculus Rift) VR Experience

Project scope

Digital Strategy
Creative Design
Rich Media Banners
Banner Content Management System
Social media integration

The Campaign

To promote the all-­new Chrysler 200, Wieden+Kennedy Portland partnered with Stopp and MPC Creative to deliver a first-of-its-kind interactive, photo­real virtual reality experience. ‘Beneath the Surface’ is a four-minute experiment, pushing the boundaries of what’s doable in virtual reality. Using the latest Oculus Rift DK2 headset, users are immersed in a beautiful rendering of the Chrysler 200 and taken on an audiovisual tour of the car and the state-of-the-art facilities that make such a vehicle possible.

The project used both the CG expertise and interactive VR development of the combined MPC LA and MPC NY studios to craft the photoreal environment and over 150 individual car parts. From surgical precision welding through to robotically aligned panels, MPC ensured the VR experience had a fluid sense of presence, with a careful eye on the balance of real-time 3D and video playback within Oculus Rift.

Technical details

- Oculus DK2 is the latest development kit from Oculus, allowing the user to lean in to see details as fine as the wood grain on the veneered dashboard. 

 - Epic Games’ “Unreal Engine 4” enables the most realistic real-time rendering available in VR to date. The scene as a whole has nearly 3 million polygons, all rendered stereoscopically at 75 fps.

- The sound system combines custom soundtracks, voiceovers, spatial sound effects triggering all around the user and a 300-watt vibration servo for bass enhancement.

- The installation runs off of top of the line water-cooled gaming PCs pushed to the limit in order to squeeze maximum visual performance out of them.

- To augment the 360° videos we have boosted the frame rate, painted out all of the stitching errors common in VR video, and added game engine generated stereoscopic particles for an added sense of depth and realism. 

The Challenges

To motivate people passing through a Car Show and take the time to experience a truly immersive experience.
To tap into the story-telling which is already occurring organically and bring it to live digitally.
Bringing all media together to form a cohesive experience that spans digital, VR, audio and in seat (car).
To bring more foot traffic into the Chrysler booth during the car show as well as keep them engaged.

The solution

We created an experience that was designed to showcase the Chrysler 200. As the center point for this experience, the public are invited here to share in the VR Oculus tour of the interior of the Chrysler car but also the factory from where it was manufactured.

The impact

The VR Oculus experience was a great success.