Armchair Quarterback Virtual Reality Experience Puts Fans on the Field
Visual innovation studio TRICK 3D recently teamed up with experiential marketing agency MKTG to create the Nissan Armchair Quarterback Virtual Reality Experience. The immersive virtual reality (VR) activation is presently touring with the Nissan Heisman House Tour, running now through November 23 at college football stadiums across the country.
Fans attending the tour’s event series are invited to become the quarterback in this virtual football experience. After putting on the Oculus Rift S VR headset, fans are transported onto the field to play and determine the outcome on the game’s final drive.
In order to create and deliver Nissan’s Armchair Quarterback in time for the kickoff of college football season, TRICK 3D assembled a team of partners that included Profile Studios, Proof Inc., Millions of Tiny Robots (MotR) and D-BOX Technologies. The Armchair Quarterback project team, led by TRICK 3D creator, founder and director Chad Eikhoff, was tasked with animating 22 college football players in a real-time environment and delivering the full experience – putting fans on the field – within a timeline of just four weeks.
“The opportunity was to provide fans an experience most will never have directly – putting them on the field, feeling the size and speed of the game in a pressure-filled late offensive push,” said Eikhoff. “The challenge was that we had to do all of it in only one month.”
TRICK 3D decided to utilize motion-capture technology and real-time game engine technology to accomplish Nissan’s Armchair Quarterback.
“To deliver the most immersive experience, we combined the highest-caliber, feature-film motion capture technology with top tier real-time 3D graphics,” said Eikhoff.
Using just five real-life football players suited up in motion-capture technology, the Armchair Quarterback team created an equation that produced 22 animated college football players. After capturing the plays, the data went to TRICK 3D, MotR and D-BOX. The teams executed against the creative set by Eikhoff using Unreal Engine and then synced the final experience to D-BOX Technologies chairs, giving fans the real-life-like motion of being on the field with players.
“The fans really enjoy experiencing jumping into the game itself,” said Clark Denuyl, director of client services at MKTG. “The Armchair Quarterback VR experience will absolutely do that for them.”
College football fans can attend one of the three remaining Nissan Heisman House Tour events in November 2019 for their chance to try Nissan’s Armchair Quarterback live – visit ESPN to learn more. Watch a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube.
About TRICK 3D
TRICK 3D is a leading visual innovation studio specializing in immersive mediums and 3D visualization. With roots in both commercial and original 3D film production, TRICK 3D applies creativity, artistry and technological know-how to solving tough enterprise problems for Fortune 1000 clients. The studio’s roster includes some of the world’s best-known brands including Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Delta Air Lines, Virgin Australia Air Lines, AT&T, CNN, Turner Broadcasting Systems, Stanley Black & Decker and many more. To learn more about TRICK 3D, visit TRICK3D.com.
