SE

PTE

MB

ER

/OC

TO

BE

R2

00

8

EVENT DESIGN I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 eventdesignmag.com56

EVA

SERR

ABOS

SA

FOR BOUTIQUEINTERACTIVE MEDIA

DESIGNER XPLETIVE,PULLING ATTENDEES

INSIDE AN EXPERIENCEIS THE ONLY WAY TODRIVE A ‘COMPLETE

IMMERSION’

connectingaudiences

eventdesignmag.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 I EVENT DESIGN 57

As the principal of Glendale, CA-basedXpletive, Ellzey’s designs are well-known asthe next generation of interactive mediaexperiences. His goal: to use media toinspire visitors of live spaces to want tolearn more—to the point that they make thecommitment to interact.

The next incarnation of interactiveswill create “complete immersion,” he says.

Beyond engaging visuals and promptsfor conversation, these interactives will beall-encompassing, emotion-seizing experi-ences that suck the visitor in and transportthem to another time and place. Consider aWild West museum exhibit in which anattendee sits on a wagon and uses reins tonavigate through a 3D animation, crossingrivers and canyons—in a recreation of anactual historic event. It could happen in arealistic environment; attendees feel thevibration of the wagon seat, feel the heat ofthe mid-day sun on their back, andencounter indigenous wildlife. It’s real.

Xpletive harnessed infrared and 3Dimaging technology for one of its recentprojects, a virtual tour of British Columbiathat debuted in the British ColumbiaCanada Pavilion at the Olympics inBeijing. Aimed at enticing investors andtourists to the province using the 2010Winter Olympics as the hook, the interac-tive experience created the illusion—via alarge flat panel monitor and round domeinterface—that the visitor was flying overthe mountains, seas, and cities of BritishColumbia.

The entire flight interface was accom-plished without a single button, mouse, orjoystick. The altitude and position of theperson in relation to the 3D map was deter-mined entirely by the location and angle ofthe user’s hand as read by an infrared cam-era. By moving their hands, the visitorcould navigate based on a stationary mapand select which portion of the one mil-

lion square kilometers to visit.From the user’s perspective, it was

entirely intuitive and similar to flyingwithout a plane: outstretch your hand andyou moved forward. (The further forwardthe position of your hand, the faster youflew.) Bank your hand left or right and youturned in that direction. Tilt your fingersupward and your elevation increased. Tiltyour fingers downward and you movedcloser to the ground.

More detailed information was provid-ed via a navigation map on a smallertouchscreen. Touch a location on the mapand the program flew you there automati-cally. Touch a market on the map andyou’d receive additional details about thelandmarks via video.

Indeed, interaction design is getting anupgrade. Ellzey says the interactive mediarealm will advance only when designersleverage an integrated combination of threetools: media, interactive mechanism, andenvironment. All three of which are neces-sary for success in the face-to-face mediumwhere designers battle intense competitionfor visitor attention.

He explains: When someone reads abook, they get “emotionally invested.” Atthe movies, the same thing is achievedbecause of the size of the visual. With TVit’s harder but still possible. In a live space,the very limited amount of time with indi-vidual participants mandates that “suspen-sion of disbelief” can only be accom-plished when the experience is visuallyand emotionally engulfing.

“A large flat panel alone won’t accom-plish what you need done. People aren’tgoing to be immersed,” says Ellzey.

Fun and GamesInterestingly, Xpletive’s media designs usu-ally involve leveraging new-age gamingtechnology to insert the user front and cen-

EVENT DESIGN I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 eventdesignmag.com 58

People don’t want to see theaction—they want to be the action.

Event attendees want to drive,participate, navigate. And if David

Ellzey has his way, they’ll getexactly what they want.

eventdesignmag.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 I EVENT DESIGN 59

Xpletive harnessed infrared and 3D imagingtechnology for one of its recent projects, avirtual tour of British Columbia that debuted inthe British Columbia Canada Pavilion at theOlympics in Beijing.

ter in the live action. “It’s a first person experi-ence. The user becomes an engaged partici-pant,” says Ellzey.

The use of existing gaming technology isoften a shortcut to interaction. “We find anexisting game that has the functionality we’relooking for,” says Ellzey. For instance, ifXpletive was creating a stage coach experience,it would look for an existing game—likely aracing game—to support the animation.

After obtaining access to the game’s sourcecode through a licensing agreement with thedeveloper, Xpletive manipulates the code andgraphics. Ellzey estimates that starting withexisting code enables the shop to save 95 per-cent on the cost of original development—bringing Xpletive’s development budget intothe $50,000-$250,000 range (versus upwards of$5 million for original coding). Development ofcontent usually runs an additional $50,000-$500,000, depending on the application.“Without the time and cost savings [of starting

with existing code], this wouldn’t be commer-cially viable,” he says.

The Right ‘Touch’A new portfolio of tools is now being used asevent and exhibit “interaction interfaces” byexperience designers. Ellzey predicts that joy-sticks, push buttons, and mice will soon be athing of the past as new technologies devel-oped for medicine, manufacturing, the mili-tary, and other industries become available.

“Control systems are getting very cool, veryfast,” he says. New steering mechanisms are

being meshed with infrared technology to cre-ate a hands-free interface. Ellzey says medicaltechnology related to replacement limbs, as anexample, has unlimited applications and alsopoints to new gloves that enable users to reachinto virtual worlds and feel contours and tex-tures. He claims we’re not far from being ableto control interactions to some extent with ourthoughts: “The technology is a hat that sensesbrain activity and uses your reaction as activa-tion,” says Ellzey. (Although currently in pre-production, he says it is very close to becomingcommercially available.)

Sense of PlaceCreating an immersive interactive experiencerequires the right environment. This can rangefrom a full diorama to just a few key props thatbring a scenario to life.

At the Natural Mojave Gallery of the SpringsPreserve in Las Vegas, Xpletive partnered withdesign firm WOED to transform a gallery oflocal wildlife at night into an immersive envi-ronment with just a few simple elements: amural of the desert landscape at night, a globalaudio tour, and a series of monitors trans-formed into simulated 3D night vision viewers.

Visitors to the exhibit explore the desertwildlife that comes out at night, through eithercustom, individual viewers or via a flat-screenmonitor synchronized with the audio. When thevisitor first gazes out into the darkness, they seevery little. But with the aid of the monitor or oneof the 3D viewers each visitor views a wide vari-ety of animated 3D animals as they engage intheir nightly activities. (Visitors have the optionof synchronizing their viewing with an audiotour—or zooming in on whatever they’d like.)

The night vision viewers were created fromsmall flat-screen monitors outfitted with head-rests. Each device looks independently at thesynchronized event, giving the users the auton-omy to focus and zoom as they see fit. Forthose who choose to stay in synchronizationwith the global audio, there is an added level ofinformation: as they focus on the animal beingdiscussed on the audio, more informationappears on the bottom of the viewer screen.

Ellzey says a key consideration in thedesign of immersive interactives is the “over-the-shoulder” viewer experience. A lot of peo-ple watch others and don’t ever get the chanceto—or choose not to—participate themselves.Still others want to be entertained while theywait in line for their turn. “You have to taketheir experience into account when youdesign. We ask, what’s their experience? Whatdo they see while they’re waiting?” says Ellzey.

In the case of the Mojave night wildlife

Ellzey says the interactive media realm will advance onlywhen designers leverage an integrated combination ofthree tools: media, interactive mechanism, andenvironment. All three of which are necessary forsuccess in the face-to-face medium where designersbattle intense competition for visitor attention.

EVENT DESIGN I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 eventdesignmag.com 60

exhibit, the solution was the flat-screen moni-tor. This element enables the exhibit to beenjoyed by a larger number of people than thesmall monitors can accommodate during atten-dance peaks such as weekends and holidays.

Making It HappenEllzey is looking for new technologies that canbe used to take interactive experiences to evengreater extremes. One of his pet projects is tomake the museum exhibit more interactive.“Museums are currently tied to a specific phys-ical spot. I’d like to find a way to get rid of therigid flow and do what the Internet has done forlibraries,” he says.

He’s working with a handheld device thatwould be aware of its own physical location,where the user has been, and what the user hasseen. “It would change the dynamics and createunfettered experiences,” he says, likening theexperience to a treasure hunt. He’s also workingon experiences that extend beyond the muse-um’s building. In addition to enhancing theexperience, the device could measure length ofstay, places of interest, and frequency of return.

With so many options available to interac-tive designers, Ellzey says it’s critical to under-stand and design around four constraints:objectives, time, space, and budget. OnceXpletive has that information, they start spit-balling. “We ask, is it immersive? Does it haveemotional impact?”

He says a common mistake is to wait toolong before bringing an interactive designerinto the fold. “We have a different set of toolsand we have specialized knowledge about newtools, interfaces, and techniques. Usually, whenwe are brought in late, decisions previouslymade may limit our ability to produce the mostcreative solution,” says Ellzey.

Because the physical environment andinteraction are key components in Xpletive’simmersive interactives, the studio typically cre-ates a full-sized paper model of the experienceprior to beginning fabrication. “We go andbuild it out in the actual space to make sure itfeels right,” says Ellzey. (Some clients eveninvite visitors to walk through the mock-up andprovide feedback.)

Things keep moving quickly at Xpletive.Exploration never slows down and a growingclient portfolio pushes the team to use theirimagination. After all, in the media realm thereare only possibilities. In other words, there areno limits—just lots of components and tech-nologies waiting to be discovered and adaptedin new ways. “If all the pieces are available,you can create something that’s never existedbefore,” says Ellzey.

Xpletive developed its expertise in immersive on-site interactives through a series ofunexpected twists and turns. First founded in 1998 as Red Gypsy Animation, the compa-ny started as a visual effects and animation studio for film with its eye on the world ofgame development. When the web was at what Ellzey calls, “its most outrageous,” thestudio finally got its foot in the door with a six-part episodic web-based game for Mattel.

When the web crashed, Red Gypsy turned its attention back to film. Then after 9/11,the movie industry shut down. What followed was what Ellzey describes as Red Gypsy’sbreakthrough project—the assignment of creating the title sequence for the DiscoveryChannel’s popular Monster Garage series. The 20-second animation showed a vehiclepulling into a Frankenstein-like “Monster Garage” on a stormy night. “We realized we arereally good at showing how things work,” says Ellzey. So the company applied its talentsto subject areas such as science, history, and geology for the Discovery, History andNational Geographic channels.

In 2006, the team landed the project of developing about 30 exhibits—of which 14were interactive—for The Springs Preserve, a 180-acre attraction in Las Vegas. TheSprings Preserve leverages the water district’s efforts to revitalize the spring as a naturepreserve and an educational opportunity, so the project was filled with opportunities forEllzey and his team to integrate their love of gaming development with their expertise in3D animations that explain how things work. “We enjoyed the project so much, we knewthis was what we should be doing,” he says.

the background

eventdesignmag.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 I EVENT DESIGN 61

D