IBM
Watson Experience Centers
Media Design, 2018
Creative Direction, Motion Design
Overview
The IBM Watson Experience Centers are the physical embodiment of the Watson brand. Potential customers, students, and IBM employees can interact with the platform and explore practical applications of cognitive computing via a 32-foot media wall, interactive stations and the Immersion Room, a 300 degree theatre comprised of 45 HD displays.
Each interface is designed to help visitors better appreciate AI via exposition, interaction and immersion, respectively, and guided by an IBM Engagement Leader to help tailor the experience to the nuance each visitor group. Starting from their opening in 2016, Local Projects developed an ever expanding library of content, working with IBM’s internal design team to develop both a visual and narrative storytelling approach that works with the physical, digital and human canvases of the space.
I creative directed the 2018 suite of content for the Watson Experience Centers and directed this nifty film to showcase the hard work of Local Projects, Oblong and IBM that is otherwise only available to guests of the centers.
created at Local Projects
Design
Live action production. Motion graphics. AR exploration. Data visualization. Gaming interactions. Across several years of collaboration, we explored the various possibilities of creating content for such a unique environment, always with an eye towards how to demystify the concept of artificial intelligence.
Case studies were painstakingly researched, with IBM subject matter experts providing a crash course in topics such as supply chain optimization, financial security and disaster recovery logistics. Applying Watson’s capabilities to real world scenarios, visitors could better imagine how machine learning could improve their own use cases and act as a force multiplier for human ingenuity.
Our design ethos was to use these overstretched canvases to be at once easily understandable yet overwhelming in their scale of operation. That for all the million data points, articles and calculations that Watson interprets, it is a simple, human question that puts this engine into motion.
Credits
Client
Client: IBM
Design Lead, Watson Immersive Experience: Jenny Woo
Creative Director: Robert Harrigan
Project Manager: Fredrick Benson
Media Design (2018)
Media Design: Local Projects
Creative Director: Christopher Fung
Associate Creative Director: Christina Latina
Visual Experience Designer: Danny Well, Pearlyn Lii, Tiemen Rapati, Vidya Santosh, Anthony Roy, Albane Jerphanion, McKenna Cole
UX Designer: Guillaume Marais, Nina Boesch
Creative Technologist: Michael Allison, Nicole Messier
Content Developer: Andrea Worby
Motion Designer: Angelica Jang, Crystal Law, Myles Bryan, Alex Komin
Project Coordinator: Charlotte Harris
Project Manager: MJ Wotton
Media Design (2019)
Media Design: Local Projects
Creative Director: Christina Latina
Visual Experience Designer: Ryan Schoenherr, Christian Borwne
Motion Design Director: Myles Bryan
Motion Designer: Dasul Kim, Crystal Law
Creative Technologist: Jorge Velez
UX Designer: Nina Boesch, Guillaume Marais
Content Developer: Andrea Worby, Alice Tallman
Project Manager: Taylor Darnall
Media Design (2020)
Media Design: Local Projects
Creative Director: Christina Latina
Design Director: Siavash Khasha
Visual Experience Designer: Ryan Schoenherr, Oscar Ma
Motion Design Director: Myles Bryan
Motion Designer: Dasul Kim, John Magbanua
Content Developer: Andrea Worby, Francie Grogan
Project Manager: Taylor Darnall
Technology Partner
Technology Partner: Oblong Industries
Director of Interaction Design: Pete Hawkes
Lead Interaction Designer: John Carpenter
Interaction Designer/Software Engineer: Samson Klitsner, Justin Shrake, Michael Schuresko
Video Documentation
Director: Christopher Fung
Director of Photography: Jason Banker
Camera Operator: Alvah Holmes
Editor: Christopher Fung
Animation: Crystal Law
Design: Albane Jerphanion
Audio: Matt Rocker
Producer: MJ Wotton
Awards/
Press
UX Design Awards 2018
https://ux-design-awards.com/en/product/ibm-watson-experience-centers/
Immersive Design Open House
https://medium.com/@robharrigan/immersive-design-open-house-eca912eaa095