CHRISTMAS 2022

The client: The City of Maribyrnong is a local government area within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia.

Challenge: How can we use our augmented reality app (MARIality app) again during the Christmas 2022 holiday season to provide interactive, engaging, and shareable experiences for visitors and residents?

Goals:

• To create a new type of interactive Christmas tree (an augmented reality installation)
• To provide a Christmas-themed scavenger hunt to entertain children and boost foot traffic in local shopping strips
• To refresh some more selected murals across the city for digital placemaking purposes
• To launch a magical colouring competition offering residents the chance to win a visit from Santa
• To bring Santa to the city in a totally new magical way

Solution: The CreativiTek team worked with the council team to create the following augmented reality experiences and activate them on the MARIality AR app. The app was republished on both App Store and Google Play for both Android and iOS users.

1. Three augmented reality Christmas trees: Augmented reality interactive installations are a huge trend for digital placemaking and festivals. We worked with the council to create three interactive Christmas trees. The mobile users were able to bring some of the Christmas characters (for example Santa, gingerbread man, and reindeer) alive on the tree and make things happen, like fireworks.

2. An augmented reality flying Santa: We enabled the target audience to bring a flying Santa to life from a floor decal, and interact with and capture photos and videos with him.

3. A gingerbread treasure hunt: We created seven gingerbread 3D models and animations, and developed seven augmented reality experiences for a treasure hunt activation.

4. Four new augmented reality murals: We created five 2D animations to enable mobile users to bring four murals across the city to life. Mobile users are able to jump in for a selfie and share their happy moments with their family and friends.

5. A new augmented reality colouring sheet: We created a new augmented reality colouring sheet to allow residents to enter the Santa and Sirens colouring competition for a chance to win a personal home visit from Santa and his helpers on board a vintage fire engine and a sack full of sweets to share with the neighbours. To create this new AR animation, we used the same 3D characters and objects we created for the council last year. A pop-up box was used to direct mobile users to a webpage where they were able to submit their pictures into the colouring competition and go into the draw to win a visit from Santa. Residents were able to collect a colouring sheet from participating local stores, libraries, community centres or download it from the campaign website. The colouring page was also used for newspaper ad.

6. A promotional video: We produced a promotional video of the augmented reality activities to be used for marketing purposes.

Services: Augmented reality development, 3D animation, 3D modelling, graphic design, videography.

Outcomes: The augmented reality decals, images, and colouring page were scanned about 4,000 times during a four-week period. The gingerbread treasure hunt floor decals were scanned 1,747 times, the AR Christmas trees and the flying Santa decal about 580 times, and the AR colouring page was scanned 1,263 times. By January 6, 2023, the new AR murals had been scanned 469 times. These captivating artworks will continue to be active, providing ongoing entertainment and engagement for residents and visitors alike.

CHRISTMAS 2023 

AR Elf Trail

As part of the Maribyrnong City Council's Christmas 2023 campaign, we collaborated with the Maribyrnong events and city experience team to integrate two new Christmas augmented reality activities into the MARIality app (Maribyrnong's AR app). We designed 3D models, animations, and floor decals for an elf trail, where each elf had its own character, name, and voice, providing unique interactions with mobile users.

Santa & Mrs Claus AR Boogie

Additionally, we crafted 3D models of Santa and Mrs. Claus, producing a delightful and festive animation based on the story shared by the client. This offered an innovative way to virtually meet and greet with Santa, providing an alternative experience for those who may not find traditional queues and photos with the real Santa enjoyable.

Feel free to enjoy the YouTube video below, showcasing highlights of enchanting Christmas-themed animations created for the Maribyrnong City Council's Christmas 2023 campaign.