A photograph is powerful
Discovery & Overview
The Power of a Shot
A great photograph can move someone: to laughter, to tears, to joy, to rage. A photograph captures a moment in time and portrays our most innate human emotions. The team at Dentsu came to us with the challenge to somehow extract these emotional elements from real photos and represent them through abstract art as part of Canon’s Power of a Shot campaign. Lots of ideas were tossed around, from using neuroheadsets in real-world installations, to eye-tracking webcam interfaces. What ultimately mattered to us, was making sure the technology did not get in the way of the story, and putting the experience of the user first and foremost.
Strategy & Concept
We wanted the solution to have the broadest reach possible, allowing anyone to interact with the site, with a personal touch. We landed on a concept where the user could connect through Facebook, and choose one of their photo albums to be analyzed for emotions through the nViso 3D Facial Imaging API, as well as other qualifiers from Facebook. We would use this data to create a unique, sharable piece of generative artwork to represent the emotions within their album. We would preface this experience with an interactive version of Canon’s Power of a Shot broadcast commercial, to set up the concept and showcase the power of human emotion within photography.
We wanted the solution to have the broadest reach possible, allowing anyone to interact with the site, with a personal touch. We landed on a concept where the user could connect through Facebook, and choose one of their photo albums to be analyzed for emotions through the nViso 3D Facial Imaging API, as well as other qualifiers from Facebook. We would use this data to create a unique, sharable piece of generative artwork to represent the emotions within their album. We would preface this experience with an interactive version of Canon’s Power of a Shot broadcast commercial, to set up the concept and showcase the power of human emotion within photography.
We wanted the solution to have the broadest reach possible, allowing anyone to interact with the site, with a personal touch. We landed on a concept where the user could connect through Facebook, and choose one of their photo albums to be analyzed for emotions through the nViso 3D Facial Imaging API, as well as other qualifiers from Facebook. We would use this data to create a unique, sharable piece of generative artwork to represent the emotions within their album. We would preface this experience with an interactive version of Canon’s Power of a Shot broadcast commercial, to set up the concept and showcase the power of human emotion within photography.
Content Creation
Generating Artwork
To create the artwork, we applied visual characteristics to the matrix of emotions that we captured from the user’s photos. Taking the user’s top four emotions, we used color theory and shape characteristics to determine what the artwork would look like. For example, Passion would be reddish-orange, with sharp angles, while nostalgia would be a cool blue with soft lines. To generate the artwork, we built a dynamic art generator using nodejs and the node-canvas library. The canvas drawing experiments of Dan Gries (http://rectangleworld.com/blog/) gave us a great foundation to build upon and play with. To get around browser compatibility issues with canvas, we hosted the generator server-side and returned standard JPEGs that could display in any browser and be shared through social media channels.
Generating Artwork
To create the artwork, we applied visual characteristics to the matrix of emotions that we captured from the user’s photos. Taking the user’s top four emotions, we used color theory and shape characteristics to determine what the artwork would look like. For example, Passion would be reddish-orange, with sharp angles, while nostalgia would be a cool blue with soft lines. To generate the artwork, we built a dynamic art generator using nodejs and the node-canvas library. The canvas drawing experiments of Dan Gries (http://rectangleworld.com/blog/) gave us a great foundation to build upon and play with. To get around browser compatibility issues with canvas, we hosted the generator server-side and returned standard JPEGs that could display in any browser and be shared through social media channels.
On-Site Collaboration
We traveled to New York to collaborate on-site with the Dentsu creative team for the initial site comps and to be sure we were getting the coverage we needed during the broadcast shoot. A tight schedule meant long days and working in tight spaces, but we relish the opportunity to work face-to-face with our clients, and we love New York City.
On-Site Collaboration
We traveled to New York to collaborate on-site with the Dentsu creative team for the initial site comps and to be sure we were getting the coverage we needed during the broadcast shoot. A tight schedule meant long days and working in tight spaces, but we relish the opportunity to work face-to-face with our clients, and we love New York City.
Development
The Power of Your Own Shots
After the video, the user could connect through Facebook and choose one of their albums to be scanned for emotion, to show them the power of their own shots. To accomplish this, we leveraged the nViso 3D Facial Imaging API which uses facial recognition technology to determine people’s emotions in photographs. We combined this data with other information such as number of people, number of likes and number of comments to create a matrix of emotions to base the artwork on.
The Power of Your Own Shots
After the video, the user could connect through Facebook and choose one of their albums to be scanned for emotion, to show them the power of their own shots. To accomplish this, we leveraged the nViso 3D Facial Imaging API which uses facial recognition technology to determine people’s emotions in photographs. We combined this data with other information such as number of people, number of likes and number of comments to create a matrix of emotions to base the artwork on.
The Power of Your Own Shots
After the video, the user could connect through Facebook and choose one of their albums to be scanned for emotion, to show them the power of their own shots. To accomplish this, we leveraged the nViso 3D Facial Imaging API which uses facial recognition technology to determine people’s emotions in photographs. We combined this data with other information such as number of people, number of likes and number of comments to create a matrix of emotions to base the artwork on.
Making Broadcast Interactive
To set the tone for the site, and establish the concept of the relationship between emotion and photography, we created an interactive version of Canon’s Power of a Shot broadcast commercial. Using full-screen html 5 video, we worked with Dentsu and Beast to create an alternate video edit that broke the spot into five unique emotions and allowed the user to learn about the Powershot camera’s features as they navigated through each.
Results
Personal and Shareable
We delivered a microsite with a full-screen interactive video and a dynamic artwork generator fully integrated with Facebook. This gave Canon’s Power of a Shot campaign a heightened experience through personalized content. Users were able to show their friends and family the emotion within their photos, in a unique and easily sharable way.