BECOME IRON MAN

Overview

In the run-up to the release of the blockbuster movie "Iron Man 3", Disney were searching for an innovative creative agency that could enable their fans to explore their IP, characters, and worlds in entirely new and exciting ways.

Working closely with Disney and Marvel, we developed an ambitious concept: what if you could almost literally step into Iron Man's suit, explore Tony Stark's garage, and test the suit's unique features?

Design Goals

We meticulously recreated Iron Man's Mk XLII armour and Tony Stark's opulent garage, furnished with sports cars, motorbikes, and previous suit incarnations as featured in past comic books and films. The next step: break the Mk XLII suit apart and understand and animate in minute detail every individual mechanism that enables its iconic prehensile propulsion assembly, as depicted in Iron Man 3.

In an unprecedented move for Disney and the film industry in general, we set about developing an entirely new approach to Augmented Reality: using Kinect to measure players' proportions and enabling them to suit up in a perfectly fitted Mk XLII suit, just like Tony Stark.

Implementation

Featuring a voice over provided by Paul Bettany, the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Iron Man films, players are instructed at each step of the experience, first raising their arms to initiate the suit-up phase.

After suiting up, the player is able to calibrate the suit by trying out some dance moves and test the repulsor systems by shooting airborne targets. Finally they take to the air themselves and fly around Tony Stark's garage.

Results

Become Iron Man was rolled out globally, with installations in 18 countries and four continents around the world, including 20 separate installations in the UK. Become Iron Man became a world first; no other major film brand had adopted AR to this degree and scale ever before.

The experience won several prestigious awards, including Unite 2013: Best Non-Game, The Drum UK Event Awards 2013, Screen Marketing Awards 2013, and AWE 2013: Most Innovative Use of AR.

Become Iron Man was later adapted and became a core component of the Iron Man Tech exhibit at Disneyland California. In 2014, Become Iron Man was installed on the Disney Magic Cruise Ship, and then went on to feature in Discovery Times Square New York as part of the Marvel S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibit.