Archive for 2016

Hololens R&D

Monday, October 24th, 2016

The fantastic team and I at Shadow Industries got a chance to do some research and development for Shell on Microsofts fancy new Hololens. We discovered it was magical and terrible all at once! The tech is amazing, especially how stable it tracks the world and recognises obstacles. The GPU is underpowered to say the least!

This never turned into a full project, due to that lousy GPU. But it was fascinating to develop for. Microsoft had done a great job with everything about it, from the integration with Unity to the docs and examples. Just, not sure about the decision to include a GPU roughly equivalent to an iPhone 3!

Shell Helix AR Engine Statue

Thursday, October 13th, 2016

This giant cutaway model of an engine’s crankshaft, piston and valvetrain stands well over two metres tall and has augmented reality markers all over it. They work with a custom app on four iPads to create an interactive exhibition piece showing off Shell’s premium engine oil benefits.

I built the app, which had to be ultra simple to use, immersive and interactive. It had to take into consideration auto-resetting if abandoned, keeping the user interested and involved, but still moving them forward constantly so nobody could hog the iPads forever.

This app was built with the excellent team at Shadow Industries.

Shell Fire VR

Sunday, July 10th, 2016

Learn about Shell’s Helix Ultra product with this VR experience. If you can catch it at an exhibition, you’re sure to enjoy the spectacular wild ride around a construction yard in a red SUV.

Built with the amazing guys at Shadow Industries. We made three of these chairs for Shell to use at exhibitions around the world. They had to be rugged, easy to set up and easy to use for inexperienced show staff, and the public users they were guiding through the experience.

Championsheeps AR

Saturday, April 9th, 2016

2016-04-09 15.55.32Watch your favorite Shaun the Sheep Championsheeps episodes with this augmented reality app from Aardman Digital. Find physical marker images that unlock videos on your tablet or phone when viewed through the device’s camera. Can you find the secret video by combining four separate marker images?

Download for iPhone/iPad
Download for Android phone/tablet

Pennzoil Air Lift Drift

Saturday, April 9th, 2016

12138771_1710675969147169_400913326_nWatch a 707hp SRT Dodge Hellcat smoke it’s tyres to dust in this flat-out drift experience from Pennzoil. This project was built to wow the crowds at trade shows and racing events, but is also available publicly for Gear VR and Oculus Rift. If you’re lucky enough to have access to one of these devices, give it a go!

Download for Gear VR
Download for Oculus Rift

I worked on upgrading the existing app by Shadow Industries for multi-platform public release.

Wonder.land Avatar Creator

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016

Create and 3D print your custom avatar in this custom iPad app. Built for the excellent Play Nicely agency in Bristol, for a custom exhibition at the National Theatre in London.

Watch the trailer here.

Shell Helix Ultra VR

Saturday, February 20th, 2016

2016-02-16 12.41.33Learn about Shell Helix motor oil with this virtual reality experience built into dedicated physical chair units intended for use at trade shows and racing events. You will be transported to a lab and shown various experiments showing off the performance of Shell Helix Ultra. You can interact with some of the experiments via a built in Leap Motion sensor that places your hands into the virtual world you are experiencing.

I worked with Shadow Industries on a major upgrade of the existing app to bring it up to date with the latest Oculus Rift drivers, and to add Chinese localisations to the system. I also worked on the physical chair units, fitting the electronics and preparing them for delivery to the client.

Due to the nature of this project, there is no easily available public demonstration of the experience. Maybe you’ll be able to catch it at a racing event or trade show.