Pebble Beach’s Concours d’Elegance auto show was host to Infiniti’s latest, greatest promotional strategy, hosting consumers, car-lovers and tech junkies alike. The Infiniti Pavilion gave users an armband, but it wasn’t governed by generic haptic technology. Event-goers could “transform” their emotions upon Infiniti’s finest product selection, creating a color spread up to 44 feet long across an LED screen.
The Biometric Interactive Experience
Infiniti’s wearable armband devices weren’t alone, either. Microphones and cameras, outfitted to gauge attendee emotions, assisted with the transformation. As individuals engaged with Infiniti’s cars, data insights were gathered. Infiniti’s further engagements, of course, will utilize the collected data.
That isn’t to say Infiniti’s Pavilion was a one-stop-shop for a data campaign. The company’s ability to impact, engage and educate consumers is titanic in the industry, and it plans to further its reputation by tapping into its own static car displays. Titled, aptly, as Driven by Emotion, Infiniti’s experience balanced its reputation as a luxury automaker with the unexplored waters of concept car promotion.
The Ride-and-Drive Experience
Last year, Infinity connected with drivers via a virtual reality experience. Also centric to the manufacturer’s concept cars, Infiniti’s virtual tour paved the road to this year’s Pavilion experience. Aside from its adoption of biometrics, Infiniti also sponsored a full-fledged concert headlined by OneRepublic.
Attendees looking for a typical—albeit energy-driven—experience could, of course, check out Infiniti’s line-up alongside its age-old ride-and-drive experience. Freed from the virtual realm, Infiniti’s hands-on driving experience took to different realms of modern technology. Driven by Emotion was powered by armbands capable of determining the wearer’s movements, gestures and even muscle cell activity.
How, you ask? Each band was connected to sensors—and each sensor was connected to a corresponding car. While the pavilion’s surrounding cameras determined facial expressions and room “sentiment,” the Pavilion’s proximity microphones measured conversation level changes within and around each car.
How Far Can Real-Time Responsiveness Go?
Sure, drivers might not have been directly “driven” by emotion, but their collected data was evidence enough of their driving habits. Driven by Emotion pulled each driver’s data into an algorithm, combining different data sets into digital artwork. The LED screens, of course, were viewable. After the event, each armband’s data was further transferred into a comprehensive artwork poster.
Infiniti’s approach to data solutions is unique. One of its leading models—the Infiniti Q60—even packed a steering-wheel-mounted heartbeat center. Astounding things happen when data is useful to both an auto manufacturer and its drivers, and Infiniti certainly debunks the industry's age-old “data is exclusive to businesses” trope. Few can determine Infiniti’s future, yet most are resigned to understand the manufacturer’s prominence in the automotive world. Now, however, its dedication to “driven” data has turned automotive marketing on its head—which may not be a bad thing.
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