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SXSW 2019

Here is a compilation of some of the most interesting things I saw during this SXSW.

Many brands started announcing their “immersive” experiences prior to this year’s SXSW. Who wouldn’t want the honor to be casually referenced as “oh, it was something like last year’s Westworld,” right? Nothing really stood out, until HBO (yes, them again) announced their #Bleedforthethrone campaign. I’ll attempt to breakdown the details below.

Beyond building hype for GOT’s Season Finale, Bleed for the Throne also involved an innovative partnership with the American Red Cross. Part of the goal was obviously to increase blood donation, but it didn’t feel too forced since they built a neat connection to the storyline — “will you bleed for the throne?” Donors would pay homage to the well-known characters who have shed blood for the titular Throne and would be rewarded automatic entry to the activation plus an entry to a red carpet sweepstake to watch the Season Premiere. Those who couldn’t donate (or didn’t want to) had the option to RSVP online, but those filled up pretty quick.

I actually tried signing up to donate blood early on and was surprised to find all slots taken. Certainly, a good thing! I read about it later and it turned out that this was the largest blood drive that an entertainment company has coordinated with the Red Cross. In the first day alone, there was an estimated donation of over 15,000 pints of blood. The Red Cross also claimed that the contest led to a 40% uplift in new donor signups. This was huge since these new donors can can come back again and again and again… even though this only happened for three days, there was definitely a lifetime impact here.

However…

“In a country where nearly a fourth of new HIV diagnoses are coming from heterosexual transmission, this double standard makes no sense unless the fundamental goal is discrimination, not safety.” — Dr. C. Nicholas Cuneo

Blood donation was one of the three ways to get in. As I mentioned before, folks could also RSVP online and these were over as quickly as they went live. The other option was to wait in the standby line. And that’s precisely what I did. The line, however, was an experience by itself. Different characters, from the Freefolk and Dothraki to the Unsullied and Westorosi, would occasionally walk by and rally up the crowd to join the fight of the living against the White Walkers.

While waiting you’d also notice some well-designed banners hanging. They displayed four iconic characters (Tyrion, Cersei, Jon Snow, Arya) plus the throne. If you connected to the their Wi-Fi you would gain access to a hidden Snapchat lens filter, which made the banners interactive.

Once inside, you’d view the iron throne in the far end, with a sizable Red Cross logo on top. A full choir stood beside the throne, beautifully singing original music from the show — HBO claimed they sung 27 minutes of music in total, with over 62 pages of score.

One of the knights would then guide you to the left and ask if you would be willing to bleed for the throne. You then received an old iPhone and a headphone and embarked on the first part of the experience, involving an audiovisual journey that would retell familiar storylines from the show.

Once you accepted the terms, he would usher you into a series of rooms meant to represent four separate characters who’ve “bled for the throne”: Jon, Arya, Cersei, and Tyrion.

Cersei’s section had large projections of faces screaming “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at you.

Tyrion’s section had a replica from the Mountain (apparently using actual props from the show).
Arya’s section was a pitch dark room with occasional flashes as you’d hear the strikes she received as a blind girl. Jon Snow’s was arguably the most visually stunning. You’d witness the setting where he was stabbed and watch it happen right in front of you via a rear projected screen.

The same Jon Snow would then ask you to “return you audio devices at the desk.” At this point you would be moved to the second part of the experience — where you’d be asked to kneel before the throne and pledge allegiance in a war for the living. Before kneeling though, you are led by a freed Astapori character to attend a service led by the Red Priestess. As the choir sings the awesome scores from Game of Thrones the Red Priestess walks around and whispers into some people’s ears. I was one of the lucky ones. She told me something to the extend of not being scared and to follow the Lord of Light. As a good fan I responded “Aye, the night is dark and full of terror” to which she nodded while pensively looking straight into my soul. After a while, the Red Priestess would finally read out the name of the blood donors and invite them to kneel before the throne, and get rewarded with Hand of the King pins. Other participants (like myself) would also be invited to do the same, but more generically (without individual names called out).

There was plenty fo stuff going on. In one corner you’d find two men practicing sword-fighting, in the middle of the camp there was a musician playing ancient melodies and a fortune teller inviting people into her tent. There were some other posters that could also be triggered by Snapchat.

Visitors who were thirsty or hungry could visit a tent to get non-alcoholic (yet delicious) beverages and Shake Shack burgers free of cost. I definitely enjoyed the burgers, but it definitely removed me a bit from the illusion of being in Westeros. But again, so did the buildings that one would inevitably notice by just looking around — we were in East Austin after all. Sorry if this seems nitpicky, but it was hard not to compare this to the full immersion previously provided by Westworld’s ghost town.

Characters would initiate conversation with quiet participants. All interactions were unique, but it would usually be something around whether you knew how to fight, what house you belonged, which side you were on (everyone should be on the side of the living), and, again, whether you’d bleed for the throne. I actually had a lot of fun with these interactions. In Westworld I think I tried to hard solving mysteries that weren’t even there. In this experience, I just decided to not overthink and simply have fun, assuming the role of a brave knight of the vale, that saved everyone in the Battle of the Bastards. I was surprised how far this little role play took me. I eventually found myself consoling a father who lost his son in battle. He reminded me that I did not in fact save everyone. I pat his back and told him his son was “a good lad who fought bravely.” That was enough to bring a smile back to the old man’s face.

Fights would break regularly, hinting at some of the trouble the main characters would go through this final season. It seemed like it would be challenging for the living to put differences aside and unite without some nasty fights breaking. It was also interesting to watch politically correct Westorosi using “free folk” instead of the derogatory term “wildlings.” That by itself was enough to start a handful of fights during the time I spent there.

All in all, this was arguably the most fun and talked about activation in 2019 SXSW. Curious to learn more about the fruition of this activation, I went to Giant Spoon’s panel shortly after the activation. They reaffirmed people are actively looking for these truly immersive experiences and that we’ll certainly see more of it in the near future (they welcome the competition). Beyond the Game of Thrones and Westworld activations we’re seeing this happen in Disney’s Star Wars park and award winning immersive theater performance Sleep no More.

“Characters were armed with guns and guests were armed with phones.”

I particularly enjoyed how they described their metric for success.
“This is different than a digital experience that people are just scrolling through. We often think about KPIs, but focusing if the user is enjoying the experience should be seen as a priority. It can be a hard metric to track, but it’s important. We want to ensure they had an emotional reaction when kneeling in front of the throne…things like that.”

It was also interesting to learn about some very last minute changes they asked for, after visiting the experience on the first day. They noticed users could be even more immersed through smell, and that the Temple setting could benefit from having some kind of mystical scent. On the next day they added an incense myst. Thinking through the experience in the POV of people attending it is crucial. It has to be more than just adding cool things and letting it play itself out. All the details matter.

Including the follow-up messages and giveaways that are often treated as secondary. In Westworld, receiving the post mail from Dellos on premiere day and remembering the experience allowed users to “get another bite of the apple.” The high quality giveaways in both experiences (hat and hand of the king pin) made me want to hold on to them and show friends when they come over. It essentially becomes a collection that I look back to fondly.

Netflix probably liked what HBO did and decided joining the game too. So they brought a 1930’s themed Speakeasy to SXSW to promote its original film, The Highwaymen.

I think they did a good job summarizing it so here it is:
“The Highwaymen’ House celebrates the never-been-told story of the two Texas Ranger legends who brought down Bonnie + Clyde. Transport yourself into the 1934 inspired speakeasy filled with immersive programming and interactive experiences.”

I’ll breakdown some of the noteworthy details below. Overall, it was not as elaborate as the HBO stuff (most likely due to budget), but I still think they did a solid job and provided a pretty fun experience.

The website itself was simple, but kinda cool. When navigating on desktop, your cursor became a magnifying glass — a nice little touch for the user interaction. The main purpose of the site was to promote the experience — users just had to click on the RSVP CTA — but one could also view the trailer and gallery from the movie, and “share,” of course. By exploring the site you supposedly found clues, but I’m not too sure about that.

Before walking down into the basement, visitors would register on a tablet, and receive a RFID wristband plus a fictitious name. I got Bullet Tooth. And I totally went with it.

Upon entering, you’d encounter a bunch of other visitors and a few actors dressed like like ’30s sheriffs, journalists, and gamblers. All guests received the same quest: locate a criminal known as “Lumberjack.” The more you interacted with characters, the more clues you would receive. If you provided the sheriff with helpful information you would be rewarded with points, that could later be used to redeem prizes at the General Store. You could also gain points by winning a five-round poker game, posting content on social, and getting your mugshot.

I was impressed by the quality of some of the items. The branded flasks, Westworld-like hats and designer watches looked pretty dang cool, but required many points. The flasks went for something like 1,500 points and the watches cost up to 5,000 — the hat cost somewhere in between. To give you a reference point, you would receive about 150 points by providing a helpful clue to the detective, and around 200 for taking the mug shot and sharing on social. I was slightly offended that they offered only 150 points for winning a poker game. Especially since I pleased the crowd with a dramatic all-in.

Worry not Dear Reader. Bullet Tooth had enough charm to bring home the gold.

To wrap up the point snd prize mechanic, I think it was a nice incentive to get people to interact with the characters. Nevertheless, there were some important details that the team behind this experience probably overlooked. The basement had live music playing for the most part. It was pretty good music — surprise artists (e..g Father John Misty) would ultimately show up late in the night — but the space was small so the sound would be pretty loud.

This made the interaction with characters particularly challenging. Again, the whole point of those interactions was to gather details about the case…So not being able to hear well was definitely problematic.

Another flaw, in my humble opinion, was the small reward for the poker game. I mentioned that above, but that was a detail they should’ve paid more attention to. If they experienced the installation as a visitor they would understand the rush of winning a quick game against strangers and how the small reward kind of ruined that vibe.

In addition to all of the above, there was also a bar with themed drinks (each visitor got one free drink token) and burlesque dancers.

All in all it was a worthwhile experience that accommodated to both kinds of visitors — those who wanted to role play and those who simply wanted to enjoy a drink in a cool setting. The point system was a nice touch to reward those who engaged with the brand. I really hope Netflix keeps doing stuff like this. It will keep getting better and better.

OTHER INSTALLATIONS + ACTIVATIONS + EXHIBITS

Good Omens Garden

Ads for the series plastered shuttles all over town. A choir of nuns and performers playing angels, demons, adorable hellhounds, rowdy witch hunters, and the riders of the apocalypse from the show canvased the downtown area. A garden of eden packed with Instagram-worthy sets inspired by the series was assembled in a 19,000-square-foot lot on Driskill Street, which became a delightful retreat from the chaos of the nearby Austin Convention Center and a star-studded hotspot at night. Upon entering you’d get a wristband with detachable pieces that granted free drinks and food. A party hosted at the garden by Entertainment Weekly featured a fire-breather and a remarkably spot-on Queen cover band. Good Omens-branded umbrellas were handed out at the pop-up experience, and used by festival-goers in rain and shine.
The installation also had two murals that came to live via Snapchat’s AR Marker.

Presidential Twitter Library

The entrance to our 45th president’s Twitter library comes with a recorded warning from The Daily Show host Trevor Noah that the content “is not suitable for small children or people with heart conditions.” Each room features Trump’s tweets expertly and hilariously curated. One room focuses on “Trump’s Greatest Battles,” such as his Twitter fights against liberal conspiracies and puppets, like toxic masculinity, diet Coke, global warming, and “those people.” It even features a wall of audio recordings from people he blocked. Dubbed the wall of “Verified Survivors,” the list includes the likes of Kathy Griffin, Stephen King, Vicente Fox, and Seth Meyers.

This thing is awesome! Traditional AR overlays virtual images onto the physical world. Bose AR does the same thing, except with sounds instead of images — and then takes things several steps further. By combining the power of next-gen Bose audio products with innovative mobile apps, Bose AR can create astonishing real-world experiences and fundamentally new ways to travel, exercise, learn, play, and more. Their SXSW appearance showcased two classic silhouettes with built-in Bose speakers for an immersive audio experience unlike any other.

Twitter House — Gary Kasparov

Gary Kasparov former world chess champion, writer, and political activist, whom many consider to be the greatest chess player of all time…. played against 10 players simultaneously and beat them all under one hour.

Accenture Interactive Experience Cantina — They had a lot of cool stuff. Two really stood out.

Accenture partnered with Disney and created an emotional reading facial recognition tool that served a video clip from Dumbo based on how you felt. You can see I was really happy. This was just a proof of concept, but highlights some highly personalized experiences and emotional-targeting we may see in the future.

Here are some highlights from the Wow Studio:

Flow Machines

Flash Darts

An immersive dart game that combines projection mapping and “Haptic Floor”, Sony’s haptic technology. When you hit the target the floor vibrates with the explosion.

Aibo the Robot Dog

Saw it last year and it is back! It looks the same. This adorable and creepy pup illustrates Sony’s advances in AI and Robotics.

Tech Trends Recap — Amy Webb
There were more than 300 trends in the report, but these are arguably the most noteworthy:

NASA scientist took improv classes to learn better ways to communicate Global Warming. “I spent 8 years in grad school, learning how to talk to other scientists, and forgot hot to talk to everyone else.” An important example of the power behind storytelling skills.

Malcolm Gladwell Self-Driving Cars

The conversation began with Malcolm Gladwell answering to why he was excited about self-driving cars with “I’m not.” Gladwell argued that we cannot revolutionize such an important aspect of transportation without answering fundamental questions around cyber security. He went on to criticize Silicon Valley for having little concern with security and how traffic solutions should come from legislation and regulation.
Another interesting point he brought up was around Perverse Incentives. Once traffic (a negative experience) is no longer an issue — e.g. a long commute can become an opportunity to watch a movie and relax — and “the inside of these self-driving car models look better a lot of living rooms,” will people actively seek traffic? Malcolm also wants to retain the ability to do mundane things without relying on advanced autonomous vehicles.

My favorite part of this panel was their talk about complaints they received for killing Instagram after every change. “Yes we killed an older version and created something new.” Kevin and Mike also mentioned a ratio that 25% of what founders of successful companies do is right, while the other 75% is made-up beliefs. “To become successful you need to learn to let go of those 75%.” We always need to reinvent ourselves and adapt to new circumstances.

Building Empathy
Jamil Zaki, head of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab and a world leader in empathy science, argued that our ability to care is not a fixed trait, but a skill that can grow through practice. He challenges us to move away from the “bad apple” mindset and evaluate environmental and cultural elements that foster these issues. Empathic norms can make a difference in school settings and beyond. In a diverse and connected world it’s more important than ever to dedicate resources to ensure kids grow up to live in an Empathy Age.

Second Golden Age of Audio
People spend about the same amount of time on video as they do on audio. Ears are becoming worth just as much as eyes. In fact, this was the fastest growing year for podcast in the U.S. with a 25% increase. On top of that increase, the fastest growing audience is predominantly young. The reason behind this is most likely tied to the ease of use, which ties perfectly to the convenience economy we live in

Fashion is The Interface of the Future
8 artists are being sent to the moon in 2023. Jasna Rokegem, founder of the fist FashionTEch design studio in Belgium, wants to be the designer to go there. She has an ambitious goal to solve a problem I never thought existed: “words aren’t good enough. What if we could visualize emotions?” Rokegem designs clothes paired with EEG headsets that alters the color and shape of attires to communicate levels of focus and availability to talk to others.

Immersive Experiences
By studying magic theory you can learn to fool the senses. This can be of immense help when thinking about cost-effective ways to create immersive VR/AR experiences. “Method doesn’t matter, it’s the effect.”

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