{"id":221,"date":"2016-01-01T01:05:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-01T06:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/?p=221"},"modified":"2016-01-26T18:24:32","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T23:24:32","slug":"merrell-trailscape-virtual-reality-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/?p=221","title":{"rendered":"Merrell: Trailscape Virtual Reality Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/merrell_large-500x326.jpg\" alt=\"merrell_large\" width=\"500\" height=\"326\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-222\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/merrell_large-500x326.jpg 500w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/merrell_large-1024x668.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/merrell_large-300x196.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/merrell_large-720x470.jpg 720w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/merrell_large.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To debut their newest hiking boot, the Capra, Merrell was looking for something truly unique to celebrate the release of their most technically-designed boot to date. Tired of being thought of as the \u2018brown boot company,\u2019 the brand was looking for a way to not only regain relevance in the consumer\u2019s consideration, but to simply make a splash in popular media as well. <\/p>\n<p>Our solution was Trailscape\u2014 arguably the first branded \u2018walk-around\u2019 virtual reality experience. Utilizing a VR headset and an array of motion-capture cameras, we created a virtual hike through the Italian alps that allowed participants to freely explore a CG environment by physically walking through it. Each step through the real world was mimicked exactly within the virtual one, giving people an extraordinary sense of presence.  <\/p>\n<p>We debuted Trailscape at the 2015 Sundance FIlm Festival, partnering with Rolling Stone to create a venue that not only housed the VR experience, but also provided amenities to festival goers, an afterparty and junket space for filmmakers, and an interview lounge for RS\u2019s Peter Travers. <\/p>\n<p>The event was a tremendous success, with unprecedented interest in the Trailscape experience leaving some hopeful participants returning day after day for a shot at traversing the alps.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LMgQGvHhUcw?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>To prototype the experience, the team built out a full-scale mock-up of the VR pathway in a Brooklyn warehouse, allowing us to fully test the walking experience at the proper scale as well as to workshop the flow of a participant through the activity. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QaUwFfsJTKs?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The venue buildout took place over the course of a few days, transforming a Park City real estate office into the Trailscape lounge. The venue was outfitted with custom-cut scenic design and lighting, amenities like charging stations and bars, and of course the VR installation itself.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BZeGYW377EA?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The crown jewel of the Tailscape scenic design was an 8-foot-tall goat head constructed entirely out of the new Capra boots and shoes. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mj0g-WJMvyo?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Through our partnership with Rolling Stone, we also accumulated a great repository of celebrity interview content from within the venue as well as coverage of our live show with Local Natives and interviews with participants in our VR experience.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jKL_AR07QJ0?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Client: Merrell<br \/>\nAgency: Hill Holliday<br \/>\nRole: VP Integrated Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Merrell_collage-500x503.jpg\" alt=\"Merrell_collage\" width=\"500\" height=\"503\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-262\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Merrell_collage-500x503.jpg 500w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Merrell_collage-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Merrell_collage-300x302.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Merrell_collage.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To debut their newest hiking boot, the Capra, Merrell was looking for something truly unique to celebrate the release of their most technically-designed boot to date. Tired of being thought of as the \u2018brown boot company,\u2019 the brand was looking for a way to not only regain relevance in the consumer\u2019s consideration, but to simply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mikerubenstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}