McDonald’s – The Top VR Activation at SXSW

Groove Jones is proud of the work we did on the McDonald’s V-Artist experience for the 2016 SXSW Festival in Austin Texas. The activation was voted the #1 VR experience at this year’s festival and the results were amazing.

“They over-delivered.”

– DeLu Jackson, McDonald’s Vice President Global Digital

 

Positioned right outside the front hall of SXSW, the McDonald’s Loft showcased the V-Artist experience and ran for the duration of the show.

“People lined up to participate. Their amazing work resulted in a lot of press about the Happy Meal VR experience. The number of articles that came out of it, the positive sentiment, and the social sharing tweets were great. It was rated one of the top experiences at South by Southwest.”

– DeLu Jackson, McDonald’s Vice President Global Digital

V-Artist is an original interactive experience that combines performance art and integrates it into a Virtual Reality experience that will surprise and delight SXSW attendees of all ages.

Participants have access to several different types of creative tools, a paintball shooter, a laser-guided color etcher and a paintbrush that allows you to paint in 3D space in front of you. Along with these awesome tools, you have a palette controller, giving you access to a wide range of colors to have fun with.

Interactive and Engaging

This experience was designed for VR from the outset, so every element was conceived with that in mind. Our tool designs allow the player to reach out and enact their will on the space, creating an instant loop of gratification feedback, and the tracking capabilities allowed us to take advantage of opportunities to draw on spatialization, like our 3D brush, to increase player’s spatial immersion.

Real-Time Social Sharing

How does a person share their VR experience with their friends? Groove Jones integrated components of our “Groove Tech” platform that allows participants to take photos of what they are doing in VR and we sync them up with cameras that are filming them in real-time. Once they take off the headsets, participants can walk over to the kiosks and can share them on their own social channels.

Check out how we share the experience.

 

Fully immersive VR experience at the #sxsw @McDonalds party opened up the inner artist in everyone #client pic.twitter.com/6pFrOKaw7B

— Ruder Finn (@RuderFinn) March 13, 2016

 

Take Away

The kiosks also allow guests to print out their artwork and take a copy with them that is branded for the experience. 

VR Art On Display

Throughout the physical space at the McDonald’s Loft are HD screens that display artwork created at the event.

For more information about the hardware used on this activation check out our HTC Vive hardware.

“They exceeded expectations. Our leadership was stunned by what we were able to do in such a short time with them, and they were highly regarded by my team.”

– DeLu Jackson, McDonald’s Vice President Global Digital

Press Loved It

• AdWeek Magazine – Using VR to Show ‘the Future of Fun’
• CNBC – The Best Brand Experiences of SXSW Interactive
• J. Walter Thompson Intelligence – SXSW 2016: McDonald’s VR Loft
• Fortune – Ever Wondered What it’s Like Inside a McDonald’s Happy Meal?
• TrendHunter – VR Painting Experiences
• USA Today – 5 Awesome Tech Takeaways from SXSW 2016
• ABC News – Virtual Reality Trips Are Everywhere at South by Southwest

 

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about our VR capabilities and activation services.