Interactive Virtual Showroom
The client
Somfy are one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of home automation products worldwide.
The brief
They were looking to push their range of electronically controlled curtains and blinds in the Australian and Asian markets. They wanted to stand out from the competition and had the idea of doing this through the means of an interactive virtual showroom. They wanted potential customers to take control of their products and let them open and close them as they would in the real world!
The solution
The resulting site allowed users to enter a real-world environment to select one of the products and then take control using either a hand-held remote control, smart speaker or mobile phone.
The centre piece of the experience was exhibiting how easy it was to control the individual curtains and blinds. But the complexity in the design was representing the unique functionality of each device in a form that could be easily understood on screen. In the case of venetian blinds for example, not only did they open and close but a wheel on the remote allowed the slats to be tilted. The users could also set their favourite position and control more than one product at a time.
The animation of the curtains and blinds in operation were achieved with video shot of the actual products. A green screen background was added behind the window frames so I could insert the exterior view at the video editing stage.
Describing all the cool features of each product to the user was acheived with animated hotstops which were overlayed on top of the video and invited users to find out more.
Supporting website and social media graphics were produced and supplied for use in the client’s marketing campaign.
The final product proved to be a great success.
It was later translated into 4 further languages and implemented across 7 countries including Australia, China, India and South Korea.
The client
Somfy are one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of home automation products worldwide.
The brief
They were looking to push their range of electronically controlled curtains and blinds in the Australian and Asian markets. They wanted to stand out from the competition and had the idea of doing this through the means of an interactive virtual showroom. They wanted potential customers to take control of their products and let them open and close them as they would in the real world!
The solution
The resulting site allowed users to enter a real-world environment to select one of the products and then take control using either a hand-held remote control, smart speaker or mobile phone.
The centre piece of the experience was exhibiting how easy it was to control the individual curtains and blinds. But the complexity in the design was representing the unique functionality of each device in a form that could be easily understood on screen. In the case of venetian blinds for example, not only did they open and close but a wheel on the remote allowed the slats to be tilted. The users could also set their favourite position and control more than one product at a time.
The animation of the curtains and blinds in operation were achieved with video shot of the actual products. A green screen background was added behind the window frames so I could insert the exterior view at the video editing stage.
Describing all the cool features of each product to the user was acheived with animated hotstops which were overlayed on top of the video and invited users to find out more.
Supporting website and social media graphics were produced and supplied for use in the client’s marketing campaign.
The final product proved to be a great success.
It was later translated into 4 further languages and implemented across 7 countries including Australia, China, India and South Korea.
The client
Somfy are one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of home automation products worldwide.
The brief
They were looking to push their range of electronically controlled curtains and blinds in the Australian and Asian markets. They wanted to stand out from the competition and had the idea of doing this through the means of an interactive virtual showroom. They wanted potential customers to take control of their products and let them open and close them as they would in the real world!
The solution
The resulting site allowed users to enter a real-world environment to select one of the products and then take control using either a hand-held remote control, smart speaker or mobile phone.
The centre piece of the experience was exhibiting how easy it was to control the individual curtains and blinds. But the complexity in the design was representing the unique functionality of each device in a form that could be easily understood on screen. In the case of venetian blinds for example, not only did they open and close but a wheel on the remote allowed the slats to be tilted. The users could also set their favourite position and control more than one product at a time.
The animation of the curtains and blinds in operation were achieved with video shot of the actual products. A green screen background was added behind the window frames so I could insert the exterior view at the video editing stage.
Describing all the cool features of each product to the user was acheived with animated hotstops which were overlayed on top of the video and invited users to find out more.
Supporting website and social media graphics were produced and supplied for use in the client’s marketing campaign.
The final product proved to be a great success.
It was later translated into 4 further languages and implemented across 7 countries including Australia, China, India and South Korea.