The Robotic Arm Experience

client

maruti, communique

solution

virtual reality, robotic arm

Auto Expo is Asia’s largest motor show where automobile companies across the world unveil their success stories and future roadmap. This automobile’s holy grail was happening after 2 years so it had to be exceedingly massive. Maruti being a major contributor in the four-wheeler segment, sought for exhibiting their future-looking technologies- ADAS, V2X, All grip, and Smart electric hybrid. In partnership with Communique and Maruti, we identified two experiences to showcase its capabilities in the most attention-grabbing way possible.

user Interest

installation hit more than 1,20,000 views

Entering the VR Station

A VR station was made to display their Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS), where we synced batches of 10 VR devices to manage the high inflow of traffic For this we opted for a conspicuously stylized experience instead of a photorealistic look, owing to the requirement of showing eminently heavy sensor data. Multiple design languages were selected, and we ultimately went for the semi-realistic low poly style which is in trend currently and was the best fit for the requirement. We made the city entailing gradient-filled neon lights and the look was replicated for the car. The inner functioning of the sensors was showcased with the aid of the filled neon lights. A POC was made for this followed by developing custom shaders and materials based on which the city was designed. A 4-minute video taking the users on a joy ride through the city was made. Multiple scenarios were depicted to show how the smart tech in the car is leveraged in times of emergencies like how the car will put an automatic break if the driver is distracted, an adoptive beep is produced if someone is passing by the wrong lane, and how it automatically detects a blind-spot. This video was made to explain the intricacies of ADAS technology to the users in a simple yet engaging way that would captivate viewers while imparting the necessary information.

the arm

The robotic arm was an ingenious solution designed by syncing three different elements. A to-scale model was made, acrylic and laser prints for the car models were done along with deciding on the kind of materials to be used and a screen to be put behind the surface. An interactive robotic arm software was installed comprising a physical robotic arm picking a dummy car and taking it through different scenarios. Rigorous experimentation was done with the colors and materials, for identifying the type of roughness of the material that created the best illumination effect. The robotic arm software was controlled wirelessly through an iPad, which was later fed with all the stories. Multiple POCs were created to make the content visually appealing, and we finally decided to opt for the POC that could touch the robotic arm’s 6 DOF limit in terms of rotation and movement. Profuse movements were added to the screen content like the 360-degree movement of the car with the car moving, to make it visually enticing. Three core technologies of V2X i.e., Vehicle to Vehicle, Vehicle to Pedestrian, and Vehicle to Infrastructure were featured in this installation. Comprehensive animated scenarios were prepared and played through interactive story playouts. The robotic arm was the ultimate showstopper of the event which caught hold of all the attendees’ attention without them knowing about the nuances involved in the functioning of the robotic arm.

Keeping the Attention Unscathed

To gauge and engage the audience's attention the robotic arm was driving the car over a 65-inch LED screen. The content playing on the LED screen was flawlessly synced with the car to provide a realistic car driving glimpse. This was a data-heavy affair so all the information related to their advanced technologies had to be meticulously captured and represented. Around 8 content variations were developed based on real-life scenarios, so that the users could connect and recall the stories. The stories comprised the daily-life scenarios of different individuals whose personas were made extremely relatable to the users, and how technology is being leveraged to make their lives comfortable and safer.

The Functioning

To run the robotic arm efficiently, a custom python code software was developed to fasten the content calibration. The software replaced the manual receipt of the signals to receiving the signals automatically, saving a considerable amount of the team’s time and effort.

The result

Both the installations were a Blockbuster hit in the motor show grabbing more than 120000 eyeballs. The attention span of the users was very high and we were able to impart the incumbent information effectively.