Air Force Hologram

3D holograms visualise the future of the Australian Air Force.

Avalon Airshow, Australia
500+
hologram projectors

Working with the Royal Australian Air Force, we created an engaging, 3D hologram experience to visualise their commitment to embracing new insights and technologies. Viewed through two custom-built holographic projectors – one on site at the Australian International Air Show and one distributed to visitors after the event – the holograms served as captivating, forward-thinking experiences that demonstrated the Air Force’s mission to foster communication, collaboration and integration through innovation and technology.

Visualising the future

The Brief

Plan Jericho’s mission is to transform the Royal Australian Air Force into the world’s first 5th generation air force. In an effort to enhance their displays at the Australian International Airshow in Avalon, they wanted a digital marketing activation able to visualise the story of Plan Jericho, and their role in bringing the Air Force into the information age through emerging technology.

Two members of Australian Airforce stand behind Plan Jericho Hologram digital marketing activation.

Innovative hologram technology

Our Solution

In response to this brief, we worked with House of Kitch to create the Plan Jericho Hologram, a one-minute video hologram viewed through custom-built holographic projectors. Designed as a representation of the Air Force’s commitment to embracing new insights and technologies, the Plan Jericho Hologram used creative technology to create an engaging experience for visitors at the Avalon Airshow and beyond.

The project involved creating two instantiations of the 3D hologram – one to be showcased on site during the event, and one that could be distributed as a unique takeaway for visitors. Both holograms, viewed through custom-built holographic projectors, were designed to be captivating experiences visualising Plan Jericho’s mission to foster communication, collaboration and integration throughout the Air Force.

Man takes a smartphone photo of the Plan Jericho Hologram on creative technology holographic projector.

Understanding the technology

Research + Development

The idea for this digital marketing activation originated from a personal research and development project from our lead animator, Nicky. While we knew from this previous exploration and experimentation that the technology wasn’t quite ready to make a real hologram with the kind of resolution we’d need, we also knew that with some clever animation and custom hardware we would be able to create a convincing illusion.

Custom holographic projectors

Custom Hardware

To bring the Plan Jericho Hologram to life, we decided to take advantage of pyramid projections. These types of holograms use a screen and its reflections on a glass pyramid to create a 3D optical illusion. Making this plan work required sourcing custom-made holographic projectors. Using these projectors, we would be able to play a video through a screen above the pyramid structure, with content reflected down into the centre of the pyramid as a 3D hologram.

Digital marketing agency’s Plan Jericho Hologram at the Avalon Airshow.

While a large hologram display formed a crucial part of Plan Jericho’s presence at the Avalon Airshow, we also augmented the digital marketing activation with smaller, take-home holographic projectors that could be distributed to visitors. With visitors’ smartphones acting as the screen at the top of the pyramid, these small-scale projectors would allow visitors to download and view the 3D hologram even after the event’s conclusion.

Smartphone hologram projector shows Plan Jericho Hologram from digital marketing agency.

Three-dimensional holograms

3D Holograms

Reference image for aircraft displayed in Plan Jericho Hologram.

Creating a realistic hologram, where the projection changed as it was viewed from different angles, involved developing the animation within a three-dimensional digital model of the pyramid projector. By setting up cameras on all four sides, we were able to film – and later view – each angle of the scene individually. Separately rendering each angle of this content would then give us a three-dimensional hologram that would behave realistically based on the viewer’s perspective.

Creating depth + realism

Visual Effects

The kind of video production setup we used throughout this project could be constructed in any number of programs. However, the fact that each scene needed to be rendered four times – once for each camera – and in high quality meant the fast and realistic rendering of Cinema 4D was our best bet. This choice also allowed us to isolate animation layers so that we could apply different shader effects (e.g. v-ray, cel, glow) to each, giving the final digital marketing hologram more realism and depth.

Screenshot from digital marketing agency’s Plan Jericho Hologram.

Engagement through innovation

Roll Out

The Plan Jericho Hologram debuted at the 2017 Australian International Airshow in Avalon, ACT. The large-scale creative technology hologram formed a central part of the Air Force’s presence at the event, providing an innovative visualisation of their commitment to emerging technologies and processes. Meanwhile, over 500 take home hologram projectors were distributed to visitors, helping to expand the digital marketing activation’s reach well beyond the Airshow itself.