The Challenge
We were tasked by the University of Coimbra, the oldest university in Portugal and one of the oldest in the world, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, to come up with an innovative idea for renovating the university’s main billboards.
After brainstorming extensively as a team, we focused on creating a concept that would reflect both the rich history and the promising future of the University of Coimbra. We drew inspiration from the university’s deep-rooted history, closely intertwined with its community. Instead of just displaying two static images, we aimed to create billboards that would encourage interaction. This led to the idea of developing animated billboards that would showcase key moments from the University of Coimbra’s history using augmented reality.
Our client wanted to avoid requiring users to download a mobile app to view the animation, as it could create a barrier to access. Therefore, we decided to develop a filter for Instagram and Facebook, widely installed on users’ smartphones. This filter would allow the animation to be viewed with minimal friction. We developed the filter using the Spark AR Studio platform.
Design Thinking Process
Empathize
First contact with the client to understand how we could help and what the main challenges were.
Definition
Evaluation of all data and information provided by the client.
Idealization
Generating creative ideas outside conventional thinking
Strategy
Definition of the entire digital and offline strategy
Production
AR Development, Storyboard and Production of the Digital Campaign on Digital Networks
Implementation
Launch of the campaign and placement of billboards with augmented reality
Creative Concept
The primary goal of the campaign was to create an augmented reality experience on the billboards, giving users the feeling that the billboards had come to life. This approach aimed to promote interaction between the University of Coimbra and its community.
Our creative concept centered on linking the university’s historical past, depicted on the left billboard by a student reading in the Joanina Library (one of the most beautiful libraries in the world), with its future, portrayed on the right billboard by a student wearing virtual glasses (emphasizing the idea that the historical university is oriented towards the future and new technologies).
The animation would initiate when users pointed their smartphone cameras at the billboards. The animated video would connect the two sides of the billboards, creating a timeline highlighting significant moments in the University of Coimbra’s 731-year history.
Our work was divided into the following stages:
– Conceptualization of the billboards’ visual composition
– Storyboarding the augmented reality animation
– Scripting the animation
– Producing the animation and adding visual effects
– Integrating the animation into the Spark Studio platform through Facebook
– Developing a landing page with campaign information and a link to access the augmented reality experience
– Strategizing the promotion of the campaign on digital and other media platforms.
Storyboard
The animation started with an effect that linked the two billboards, named “the past” and “the future” of the university. The student on the left side symbolized the tradition of the University, while the one on the right side symbolized the future and innovation.
When the two sides connected, a particle explosion effect occurred, revealing a timeline with different significant moments in the history of the university. Each moment in the timeline was accompanied by the year of the event and a brief description of it, narrated in either Portuguese or English to make the experience inclusive.
After the description of a moment in the timeline was finished, a new particle explosion appeared, unveiling a new key moment in the history of the university. The interactive experience concluded with an inspiring narration about the University of Coimbra and the contribution of the entire community to its past, present, and future.
Branding
Left Billboard – Admiring History:
This billboard showcases the past with a student from the Joanina Library, one of UC’s most iconic and beautiful libraries, reading a book. The Joanina Library is considered one of the most beautiful libraries in the world and remains in perfect condition, reminding all visitors of the rich history associated with the University of Coimbra.
Right Billboard – Redesigning the Future:
On the other hand, the billboard depicted a student wearing augmented reality glasses, symbolizing the University of Coimbra’s futuristic vision for a more sustainable technological future and advanced scientific research.
Landing Page
Bright Creative Group developed a landing page to provide information about the campaign and a link to activate the augmented reality experience. Users could scan the QR code on the floor and billboards to be redirected to info.uc.pt/outdoors, where they could find information about the experience and a link to access the Facebook filter. Once the filter was opened and the smartphone camera was pointed at the two billboards, the animation would begin.
Two versions of the landing page were developed, in Portuguese and English, to ensure that the experience was accessible to the thousands of international tourists who visit the University of Coimbra every day.
