UITP is Europe’s premier Public Transport Conference and event. UITP is a non-profit international association advancing sustainable mobility and public transport. This year, 2015, it was held in Milan, Italy. Transport for Cape Town (TCT), Cape Town’s Transport Authority, needed a stand solution to elevate them to the global stage as Africa’s top Transport Authority. In collaboration with Switch Design Cape Town, a stand was designed that not only was world class but had an interactive 3D projection mapping area. Visitors to the stand were treated to a massively interactive experience that was 3mx3m big. Through a series of narrated animations, visitors learned about TCT, their vision, the development of their Transport Development Index, the first of it’s kind in the world. The TDI sets a factual baseline against which TCT can measure their service delivery and make real change to transport in Cape Town.
Tackling how to solve the projection mapping solution in the limited space of the stand was just one of our challenges we faced on this project. Another challenge was how to tell the story of TCT and the TDI so that users from any country could understand the data. Since this was a public transport conference, we only focused on public transport in Cape Town. The data from the TDI was very technical and very heavy on the stats side, so the first thing we needed to do was solve the experience where the complex information was simplified enough to be represented visually in that anyone from any country and background could understand what they were seeing.
Working closely with the client and engineers to make sure the message and important data wasn’t lost in translation, a script was written on which we could base the storyboard. Using a combination of photos, video footage and illustrations, the projection area was brought to life in a bold 3mx3m projection mapped, narrated animation, all controlled by an iPad that the visitors used.
Using our own mapping system, the animations were projected on blocks of varying shapes, sizes and depths. This allowed us to create specific areas for highlighted information and use the whole massive area when a really important piece of information needed maximum impact. The outcome and response were overwhelmingly positive and people were amazed how such complex ideas were translated into such a seemingly simple solution through effective illustrations and smart use of photography and video.
