MIND RACER

TitleMIND RACER
BrandDEAKIN UNIVERSITY
Product / ServiceDEAKIN UNIVERSITY
CategoryD01. Touchpoint Technology & Tech-led Brand Experience
EntrantDEAKIN UNIVERSITY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation HARDHAT Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Production HARDHAT Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 BOOM STUDIOS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Danielle Crisp Deakin University Social Media Manager
Melanie Maizels Deakin University Social Media Coordinator
Jessica McCartney Deakin University Head of Brand and Content
Matt Edge Deakin University Chief Marketing Officer
Alexandra Harrison Hardhat Senior Account Director
Lauren Lee Hardhat Producer Lead
Thomas Fitzgerald Hardhat Art Director
Joanna Wells Hardhat Designer
David Cristofaro Hardhat Senior Back End Developer
James Cosgrove Hardhat Front End Developer
Sophie De Henau Hardhat Producer
Dan Monheit Hardhat Strategy Director
Reece Ryan Hardhat Creative Director
Daniel Kopel Hardhat Videographer and Editor

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

Mind Racer took the nostalgic concept of slot-car racing and gave it a futuristic twist giving players the opportunity to drive the slot cars using brain power. We are not aware of any other university ever running an activation like this. Not only did Mind Racer push technical boundaries, it suited our institution’s mantra to a tee – to drive the digital frontier. By taking a technology that most people would otherwise not have experienced and delivering it to them in a tangible, interactive and immersive way, Mind Racer helped to position our institution as a progressive and innovative university.

Background

Digital innovation is at the core of our institution’s DNA and every year we develop an activation to run at our Open Days that pushes the boundaries and brings digital innovation to life for thousands of people. Open Days are our biggest recruitment events of the year, attracting thousands of prospective students to our campuses. The events provide an amazing opportunity to inform and inspire at a time when choosing a university is at the forefront of prospective students’ minds. For our 2018 Open Day activation we submitted a brief to a trusted agency partner to develop an experience that showcases an emerging technology in a way that is engaging and relevant for prospective students. Brand research tells us that our prospective students are seeking practical and applied ways of learning, including challenging, hands-on experiences. It was also a requirement for this to be reflected in the Open Day activation.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The response to our brief was Mind Racer – an activation using Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology, enabling players to propel a slot car around a race track using the power of their mind. BCI is an emerging technology that enables a person’s brain impulses to control a physical object outside their body. Importantly, it’s one of the emerging technologies that our institution is conducting research into, demonstrating a clear and relevant link. We knew that the creative elements of the physical set would play an integral role in heightening the excitement around the activation. We decided on a ‘Tron’-inspired design - including bright colours, neon lights and a futuristic soundtrack – as well as live race commentators, which attracted attention and amplified the action. The track was set upon a Mind Racer-branded platform, weaving in and around a futuristic cityscape, with exciting animations displayed on screens to engage the crowd.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Choosing to develop technology that could be connected to a slot car track was deliberate – it ensured four people could be involved at once and brought an element of competition to the activation, which we knew would be attractive to our high-school student target audience. To make Mind Racer a technical reality, the agency integrated existing BCI technology with their own bespoke race control software and hardware to enable the slot cars to drive using data received from the BCI headsets. The headset "decoded" patterns in players’ brainwaves and calculated an "attention" reading that was sent to a computer over Bluetooth. The computer was hard-wired into the track and controlled the car’s speed based on the reading. Integrated into this system was a custom designed and developed front end, which received power data from the headsets and race data from the track to display real-time race and headset information.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The entire process from initial briefing to execution at the Open Days took approximately nine months. Using the AgencyAgile methodology, the entire project was roadmapped, scoped and broken down into fortnightly cycles with key milestones and check-ins. We worked closely with the agency to piece together everything from logo design and sourcing headsets to testing the track and organising logistics. This methodology surfaced the project’s ambiguity, of which there was plenty, as we were utilising innovative technology for a completely new means. Our teams worked with complete transparency to problem solve and adapt where necessary. The agency also worked closely with our institution’s events team to develop the set design and decide on placement, ensuring it stood out and did not get lost amongst the other activities. Mind Racer ran across two Open Days in August 2018 at two different campuses and was a huge success.

List the results (30% of vote)

Mind Racer was an incredible success and met its primary goals of showcasing an emerging technology relevant to our institution and achieving positive brand awareness. More than 18,000 people viewed or participated in the activation across two Open Days. As a bonus, we were able to generate more than 500 leads via a registration form, which we can now nurture through the key university and course selection processes that students embark on immediately following Open Days. Increasing the activation’s ROI, we reached over 190k people through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, promoting both the activation itself, as well as an article published on the University’s content hub about our BCI technology research. Additionally, we gained substantial traction in the media, receiving both local and national coverage. Mind Racer contributed to a high Open Day satisfaction rating, with 98% of attendees stating the event met or exceeded their expectations.