At Molecular Media, we get to witness firsthand the power of technology. We call on it to enhance our clients’ corporate meetings, enliven entertainment, and bring forth new ways to communicate. Technology powers some of the greatest moments of our lives. It can send a message, move an audience, and open untold pathways into the human mind, body, and soul. It democratizes precious experiences previously only available to the few. That’s why we felt it was so important to work with Expedia & St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to make children’s dreams come true.
Molecular Media was a part of a production team that included the likes of 180LA, 72andSunny, Pixel Rain and All360Media to execute the vision of the Dream Adventures project: a next-generation immersive 360° video, projection mapping, and live streaming experience for the kids of St. Jude.
To date, the Dream Adventures project was the first time 360° video, projection mapping, and live streaming technology have been utilized in concert. This has never been done before. Expedia enabled truly immersive travel experiences tailored to the dreams of the children of St. Jude, and Molecular Media worked with Pixel Rain to make them come to life thousands of miles away. Each of the kid-adventurers were able to explore, interact, and direct the actions of their personal live-streamer in real-time, getting lost in the total immersion of this one-of-a-kind experience.
Expedia asked the children of St. Jude about their favorite places, things to do, and dream locations. Their answers ranged from a scuba diving ocean excursion, to running with a herd of wild horses, and digging for dinosaur fossils. Once Expedia found out what the kids’ dreams were, they outfitted each Dream Adventure host with live-streaming gear and sent them on their way. They had to keep the equipment load very light, so they went packing with just the essentials.
The live streaming kits accompanying the hosts included a Ladybug 360° Video Spherical camera to capture the stunning video, and naturally, given the remote locations of each of the children’s dreams, a laptop sized portable satellite terminal. The terminal granted the minimal bandwidth needed to deliver 4k 360° video back to the virtual reality installation Molecular Media built for St. Jude.
All the preparation finally came to life when the children entered the immersion cube – designed and built by Molecular Media. Six high-res, high-brightness projectors were painstakingly aligned and registered on five faces of the custom fabric cube screen. The video was run through Pixel Rain’s custom mapping software, unwrapping the 360° file onto the sides of the cube. All of this came together to make the kids feel like they were standing with their guide. They interacted with their Expedia hosts to experience distant parts of the world, as if they were right there.
This was a touching experience for everyone on set, including Molecular Media CTO, Tom Ierna. As Tom puts it: “I was a witness to a part of this amazing project. Grown men who’ve been working in the production industry for years were brought to tears the entire shoot day.” Needless to say it was a once-in-lifetime opportunity for us to lend our skills to something larger than ourselves.
Molecular Media is proud to have been an integral part of this amazing project. For most of our clients, we provide tools and technology to help people navigate the business world; to deliver meetings and events that they will never forget. This project went far beyond providing high-quality technical solutions to business problems – it gave us the chance to give something back by lending our expertise to Expedia & St. Jude. We were able to execute their vision to give each of the kids their Dream Adventure.
This project inspires us anew to create moments that matter. If you feel the same, join Molecular Media in bringing your creative vision to life.
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