Sleepy Hollow
Location-based VR Experience
Art Director, Experience Designer | FOX TV, Secret Location
Sleepy Hollow VR was an immersive experience based on the FOX television show which was embedded into an end-to-end installation at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014. Guiding visitors through the iconic covered bridge, dropping them into a virtual environment, and giving them the fright of their life made Sleepy Hollow one of the most popular exhibits that year—and ultimately earned it a landmark Primetime Emmy® award!
Developed during the advent of modern virtual reality, the project required innovative problem-solving at almost every step, not only from a technical perspective, but also in the development of novel approaches to story and interaction design. Without established practices it was up to my small team of creatives to define our own methods and standards.
Development
Working closely with the show creators, I led narrative development for virtual reality—developing scripts that would map to an immersive space and using environmental storytelling to enhance the visitor experience.
I created traditional and 360° storyboards to map out the 3D location, leveraging omnidirectional audio, animation cues, and dynamically generated elements to effectively engage the exhibit’s visitors.
The VR experience was then augmented by its integration into the physical installation. This included props such as the legal waiver, which was disguised as in-world coroner’s report, alluding to the terrifying plot visitors were about to step into.
Production
I led our team into production, where the 3D cinema cameras proved to be unusable for VR. We engineered our own stereoscopic camera rig to give us the aspect ratio we needed.
Our multidisciplinary team pioneered methods for including stereoscopic footage in 3D environments using Unity. I led the collaborative process for brainstorming and problem solving, ensuring that our approach wouldn’t result in overlooked solutions because we were too locked in to our established methods.
I worked with programmers to develop a server-based, automated image editing tool that could chromakey photos and composite them into designs for our social take-away images in under sixty seconds.
Deployment
Beyond the challenges of VR, we had to address the visitor’s entire experience at this location-based experience (LBE); from engaging them in the queue, to giving people something to share on social media as a take-away. This all needed to happen in under two minutes—and timing was key.
I designed user flow diagrams to cover all aspects of the location-based experience; from the physical queue, the waiver, photo op, VR experience, and out to the social take-away at the installation’s exit.
The entire installation was prototyped and tested in Toronto to perfect the timing of the end-to-end visitor experience. Once deployed in San Diego, we found that our diligence had paid off, and with only minor hiccups, our flow was successfully executed.
Project Outcomes
- Awarded a 2015 Creative Arts Emmy® for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media category for User Experience And Visual Design—the first ever Primetime Emmy® awarded to a virtual reality experience.
- Awarded Best in Cross-Platform at the 2014 Digi Awards.