Augmented Reality Experience for FX Networks American Horror Story Comic-con San Diego FXHIBITION
Welcome to the American Horror Story Eccentricities Gallery – Discover the Dark Secrets
Comic-Con San Diego is the largest convention of its kind in the world, with nearly 400,000 people attending. FX Networks’ goal with its “American Horror Story” activation at San Diego Comic-Con was to scare and excite the series’ fans without revealing spoilers of the upcoming season. What materialized was a mysterious sneak peek of what was to come, fueled by an augmented reality-enabled tour of the “American Horror Story Eccentricities Collection.”
The collection, containing a series of artifacts inspired by the show’s folklore, was experienced through the guidance of actors playing docents—as if presenting a true museum exhibit to interested spectators—and augmented reality technology experienced through iPads.
The American Horror Story Eccentricities Gallery is a collection of art and oddities inspired by AHS lore. The experience is aided by Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which reveals clues to the series’ upcoming installment.
Step Inside the Eccentricities Collection
Every participant who entered the experience received an iPad and put on a pair of headphones to help guide them through the gallery. The iPad became their window into another realm, allowing them to see what is waiting at each exhibit.
Guests were told that they were receiving a first-time view of a strange and unusual collection of objects possessed by unseen forces. As docents guided attendees through the 10-minute experience, eerie secrets behind the installations were revealed. Particularly terrifying was the Judge of Ipswich, a part goat, part man, who came to life with a heaving chest and eyes that continued to follow guests as they moved through the room. Other artifacts included a gilded cage, a chandelier, and a statue of a bust.
Physical and Digital
Below are images of the physical object installations and the enhanced digital AR moment when the objects came to life.
Installation Titled – Visitors
Installation Titled – Uber Mortem
Installation Titled – The Judge of Ipswich
Above, you see one of the “Docents” holding an iPad tablet that would reveal an AR treatment of each of the physical pieces in the exhibit.
Groove Jones designed and fabricated all of the physical exhibit objects in the exhibit and created the digital AR experience.
All told, the activation garnered 695 social posts, amounting to a reach of 783,000 and 956,000 impressions.
Spatial Audio Design
Spatial Audio is a core part of the experience. From the moment they walk through the first doorway, visitors are immersed in the sound surrounding and enveloping them, creating an isolating atmospheric world. Custom SFX is triggered based on the viewer’s position.
Sound design was another important part of the experience. The AR animations were married with a soundscape heard through headphones and timed to maximize the scare factor. At the close of the experience, fans swiped their wristbands to receive a photo of them within the activation. Only this photo had an AHS filter that distorted attendees’ faces with burn marks. The horror!
AR Filter Social Takeaway
At the end of the experience, we created an AR filter for every visitor to create a takeaway photo that they could then share on their social channels.
Event Marketer EMS Ex Award – 2019 GOLD Best Use of Technology and Social
The experience won the GOLD at this year’s EMS Awards – https://www.eventmarketer.com/ex-awards-winners-19/?q=winner-176. All told, the activation garnered 695 social posts, amounting to a reach of 783,000 and 956,000 impressions.
Groove Jones worked with FX Networks agency Creative Rift to bring the gallery to life.
