Spatial&, the newest portfolio company from
Walmart’s Store N°8, and DreamWorks Animation present a virtual
reality activation offering a glimpse into the future of
merchandising through the beloved film franchise
Have you ever wished you could ride alongside Hiccup and Astrid
on the back of a dragon, soaring high in the sky and swooping over
incredible landscapes? Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and DreamWorks Animation
are making this a reality – a virtual reality – through
an exclusive, first-of-its-kind immersive V-commerce activation
tied to the upcoming theatrical release of How to Train Your
Dragon: The Hidden World.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190213005930/en/
Walmart customer tests VR experience into
the “hidden world” of How to Train Your Dragon. (Photo: Business
Wire)
Just ahead of the highly anticipated film hitting theaters
nationwide on February 22, the How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden
World Virtual Tour, powered by HP, Intel and Positron, will visit
select Walmart parking lots. Spatial&, a V-commerce startup
focused on creating next generation merchandising experiences using
cutting-edge technology and storytelling tools, collaborated with
DreamWorks Animation to create this unique VR-driven shopping event
designed to foster one-on-one relationships with the film’s famous
characters. As part of this, the tour will feature How to
Train Your Dragon merchandise available for purchase in a branded,
immersive gift shop.
The experience, directed by Kurt Mattila and Gil Zimmerman and
produced by Armand Weeresinghe, begins in an onboarding room where
the film’s mischievous twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut greet guests,
setting the scene for this magical adventure. Participants are then
led into a dragon’s cave to suit up in headsets, and sit in
specialized Positron motion VR chairs powered by the HP VR
backpack, before embarking on a truly life-like five-minute journey
through the breathtaking Hidden World with the help of Astrid,
Hiccup, Toothless, Hookfang and more.
This remarkable activation gives everyone, ages 8 and up, the
opportunity to interact with How to Train Your Dragon characters
through immersive real-world sound, motion and sensory cues.
Viewers are drawn fully into the experience physically and
emotionally, creating deep bonds with the dragons and characters
they encounter along the way.
“Collaborating with DreamWorks Animation and its iconic How to
Train Your Dragon franchise is such an exciting way to bring
Spatial&’s first ever activation to the public,” said Katie
Finnegan, chief executive officer of Spatial&. “Spatial&
was founded based on the belief that VR will transform
merchandising and retail and we can’t wait to finally share this
uniquely immersive shopping experience with consumers across the
country.”
“We have set an extremely high bar for quality and innovation
for the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and our partners at
Spatial& exceeded our expectations with their incredible work
on this project," said Abhijay Prakash, chief operating officer of
DreamWorks Feature Animation. “This latest Dragon film displays
DreamWorks’ best in class creative abilities combined with state of
the art advances in animation technology, and we are thrilled that
this experience created by Spatial& lives up to that reputation
while allowing fans to journey straight to the center of this
unique world we’ve created for the film. It’s a truly exhilarating
experience.”
“The How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Virtual Tour is
a great opportunity for our customers to engage with this fantastic
franchise. It’s also the most recent example of how Walmart
continues to use emerging technologies, including virtual reality,
to enhance the experiences of shoppers across the country,” said
Scott McCall, senior vice president for entertainment, toys and
seasonal, Walmart U.S. “Customers will also get a preview of the
exciting new products available at Walmart for How to Train Your
Dragon fans of all ages at the great prices customers expect from
Walmart.”
Following the VR experience, participants are guided into a How
to Train Your Dragon themed gift shop where they can purchase
memorabilia featuring the characters they befriended and created
deep connections with during the activation. Items for sale include
everything a little Viking might want, from plush toys to action
figures to franchise DVDs and video games. Select merchandise from
the collection will be available in 2,000 Walmart stores nationwide
and at http://walmart.com/dragonstourwalmart.
The entire activation is brought to life through top-of-the-line
hardware and software from HP, Intel and Positron, official
sponsors of the tour. Spatial& and DreamWorks Animation
leveraged servers and workstations powered by Intel® Xeon® Scalable
processors to stitch together high-resolution images and 360-degree
VR videos to create this stunning experience. During the
activation, HP Windows Mixed Reality Headsets and OMEN by HP
Mindframe Headsets, alongside PCs powered by Intel® Core™
processors, make it possible for consumers to fully step into and
enjoy the Hidden World. The fun continues outside the VR experience
where HP Chromebooks allow parents to follow along with the content
their children are viewing and Omen by HP Gaming Laptops, based on
Intel technology, provide entertainment for waiting participants
and passersby.
“For 80 years, HP has delivered innovative technology to help
filmmakers create memorable moments,” said Joanna Popper, global
head of virtual reality for location based entertainment at HP Inc.
“Working together with DreamWorks Animation, Walmart and Intel, we
are using virtual reality to take the Hidden World from
storytelling to story-living by bringing audiences to the center of
the narrative.”
“Intel’s end-to-end solutions together with technology from HP
and the creative minds from Spatial& and DreamWorks Animation
have brought to life new, immersive cinematic experiences for
audiences to connect with the How to Train Your Dragon world,” said
Kumar Kaushik, general manager of AR/VR solutions, client computing
at Intel. “From the imaginations of content creators to taking a VR
journey on the back of a dragon, technology is unleashing new
storytelling possibilities for developers and consumers alike.”
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Virtual Tour
leverages Positron's Voyager® VR motion chair to deliver a magical,
multi-sensory encounter where viewers can enjoy hands-on
interaction with their favorite characters from the film," said
Jeffrey Travis, CEO of Positron. "Spatial& is our first client
to introduce interactive hand tracking along with 6DOF (6 degrees
of freedom) in our Voyager® chair. We can't wait for audiences to
experience this new level of immersive storytelling, and we are
proud be a part of this groundbreaking project."
The How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Virtual Tour will
visit the following cities and Walmart stores between February 15
and April 9:
- Burbank, California (1301 N Victory
Place) - February 15-16
- Pico Rivera, California (8500
Washington Boulevard) - February 17-19
- Anaheim, California (440 Euclid Street)
- February 22-23
- San Bernardino, California (4001
Hallmark Parkway) - February 24-26
- Las Vegas, Nevada (5200 S Fort Apache
Road) - March 1-2
- North Las Vegas, Nevada (6464 N Decatur
Boulevard) - March 3-5
- Glendale, Arizona (5010 N 95th Avenue)
- March 8-9
- Gilbert, Arizona (2501 S Market Street)
- March 10-12
- San Antonio, Texas (8923 W Military
Drive) - March 15-16
- New Braunfels, Texas (1209 S Interstate
35) - March 17-19
- Grand Prairie, Texas (2225 I-20) -
March 22-23
- Allen, Texas (730 W Exchange Parkway) -
March 24-26
- Sugar Land, Texas (345 Highway 6) -
March 29-30
- Katy, Texas (1313 N Fry Road) - March
31-April 2
- Rogers, Arkansas (4208 S Pleasant
Crossing Boulevard) - April 5-6
- Bentonville, Arkansas (406 S Walton
Boulevard) - April 7-9
About Walmart
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save
money and live better - anytime and anywhere – in retail stores,
online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 265
million customers and members visit our more than 11,200 stores
under 55 banners in 27 countries and eCommerce websites. With
fiscal year 2018 revenue of $500.3 billion, Walmart employs over
2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader
in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment
opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by
visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook
at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter
at http://twitter.com/walmart.
About Spatial&
Spatial& is a V-commerce startup focused on creating next
generation merchandising experiences. Spatial&’s team of
storytellers, technologists and retail experts believe VR’s ability
to fuse the emotional bonds between consumers and brands has the
potential to reinvent the customer journey. It is the second
portfolio company to launch from Store N°8, Walmart’s incubator
dedicated to uncovering ideas that will transform the future of
commerce.
About DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a division of the Universal Filmed
Entertainment Group, within NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast
Corporation, is a global family entertainment company with feature
film and television brands. The company’s deep portfolio of
intellectual property is supported by a robust, worldwide consumer
products practice, which includes licensing, and location-based
entertainment venues around the world. DWA’s feature film heritage
includes many of the world’s most beloved characters and
franchises, including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to
Train Your Dragon, Trolls and The Boss Baby, and have amassed more
than $14.5 billion in global box office receipts. DreamWorks
Animation’s television business has quickly become one of the
world’s leading producers of high-quality, animated family
programming, reaching consumers in more than 190 countries.
Creating a diverse array of original content in a variety of
formats and delivering deep, fully immersive worlds served up with
compelling characters, the prolific studio has garnered 22 EmmyⓇ
Awards since inception in 2013.
About HP
HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone,
everywhere. Through our product and service portfolio of personal
systems, printers and 3D printing solutions, we engineer
experiences that amaze. HP’s virtual reality technology is founded
upon our rich history of product innovation and deeply rooted
customer relationships which enables us to deliver the most
immersive technologies that help businesses lead their industries.
OMEN by HP products provide the performance and enthusiast gaming
community with the tools needed to enjoy their favorite titles and
excel in esports.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), a leader in the semiconductor industry, is
shaping the data-centric future with computing and communications
technology that is the foundation of the world’s innovations. The
company’s engineering expertise is helping address the world’s
greatest challenges as well as helping secure, power and connect
billions of devices and the infrastructure of the smart, connected
world – from the cloud to the network to the edge and everything in
between. Find more information about Intel at newsroom.intel.com
and intel.com.
About Positron and Voyager®
Positron is a studio focused on cinematic VR. Based in Los
Angeles, the team includes filmmakers, mechatronics engineers,
designers, software developers and artists who collaborate together
to create premium VR experiences and products. Positron works with
companies such as Universal Studios, Disney, DreamWorks, Verizon,
Intel, and many more to deliver cinematic VR experiences on
Voyager®, its award-winning, full-motion VR chair platform that has
been called "the future of movies." Integrating beautiful design
and high-end engineering, the chair reflects a passion for VR
storytelling. Voyager® delivers a completely new level of immersion
in VR by providing a comfortable, fully integrated personal VR
theater that incorporates whisper-quiet robotic rotation and pitch
motion, audio-driven haptic feedback, scent dispensing, cabin
lighting and specialized seating. Voyager® VR cinemas are available
now for cinemas, museums, and events that desire to provide a
premium VR experience.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190213005930/en/
Walmart Media RelationsOlin Ericksen ,
1-800-331-0085news.walmart.com/reporter
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