US Open Ball Flight Simulator

Flying through the clouds

For the US Open, Gen City Labs created the Ball Flight Simulator 2.0 for Emirates Airline. This gesture-controlled video wall experience was built to create an engaging, interactive element for fans allowing them to experience the joy of winning a tennis match, as well an incredible flight around the globe while viewing key Emirates destinations. It culminated with a postcard-taking experience based on where your ball landed, as well as the ability to immediately upload that picture to Facebook. Participants and passers-by could also view these postcards flying through the clouds on a separate visualizer.

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The US Open has one of the more engaged audiences of any event Gen City Labs has done. Sports fans are more willing to participate and connect with experiences compared to more conservative environments. We aimed to create an experience that was memorable, convey that Emirates could take you anywhere, and provide a takeaway of value that was to be shared. Using the Panasonic D-IMager we were able to track user’s tennis serves and the angle their body was leaning to steer the ball flight. The users photo was then composited on a triptych panel with a US Open postcard image along with their determined destination image. Users collected their photo on a device nearby, and if they opted-in would receive a link to post their photo on an Emirates Facebook album. User’s photos were also uploaded to a private Flickr album, and from there were pulled into the Social Media Visualizer 3×1 screens on the other side of the booth. In this experience, user’s photos gracefully cascaded through the clouds with Emirates promotional videos playing periodically.​