Dundrum Town Centre wanted to create an immersive festive experience for visitors that would be a talking point that would attract visitors and media alike, and that would also encourage visitors to explore different parts of the center on each visit.
Following initial briefing sessions, it became clear that they liked the idea of combining traditional festive lighting, decoration, and analog (or “real”) elements with technology, and with augmented reality in particular. It also emerged that they wanted the installation to be a local experience, one that wasn’t simply another “generic Christmas scene” that visitors could enjoy anywhere in the world.
MK Illumination Ireland rose to the challenge and delivered a one-of-a-kind interactive Christmas experience for Dundrum.
It included:
Traditional elements:
Fun, vibrant Christmas lighting lit up the center, immediately transforming it into a welcoming place to visit, shop and relax.
The local touch:
Oisín McGann, an award-winning Irish writer, and illustrator, was commissioned to write an original story about a family of snow people called “The Drift Family at Dundrum”.
A Family-friendly presentation:
The Drift Family appeared not only in the form of a story but also in “real life”, thanks to the custom-designed characters that were created based on the illustrations in the book. The family was very much one of the highlights for children and an ideal photo opportunity for parents and children alike.
A mix of analog and technological elements:
In order to appeal to young and old, and traditionalists and technology-fans alike, visitors could read about the Drift Family’s adventures at four carefully chosen locations to ensure that visitors moved around the center instead of congregating at one point. At each location, visitors could enjoy the life-size animated representations of the characters and read the relevant part of the story, or download the Zappar app in order to experience the story as augmented reality.
The immersive, 360◦ festive experience garnered lots of media attention and traffic over the holiday season, attracting visitors from far and wide who roamed the center, enjoying everything it had to offer.