Ocean Labs: the appliance of science to experiential OOH

Ocean Labs is the tech development arm of Ocean Outdoor, headed by MD Catherine Morgan (above.) Award-winning Ocean Labs is the fastest-growing part of Ocean. One of its most exciting – and unique – products is On-screen AR (formerly LookOut.) On-screen AR uses live data and augmented reality (AR) to take consumers on an immersive journey by connecting the small screen of their mobiles with the big screens of Ocean’s digital Out of Home network.

Now fully established in the UK, Ocean Labs is being rolled out across all Ocean territories: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Ocean Labs Group 2022 from Ocean Outdoor on Vimeo.

Examples include Denmark’s The Ice Bridge for Netflix, a shopping centre walkway with interactive LED flooring complete with sensors that, when you stood on it, seemed like it was cracking – real theatre in a shopping environment and a perfect encapsulation of The Ice Bridge experience.

In the UK Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth Games featured Ocean Labs’ Commonwealth Mascot Trail, featuring an AR version of official Gamers mascot Perry. The aim was to get people moving and the Ocean Birmingham Loop experience began with people standing by the screen with Perry performing various different exercises.

We used Ocean’s Paralympics GB partnership to advise to on inclusive wheelchair-friendly exercises, 8 in total. On completion participants High-fived the screen which switched to a mirror stream at which point mascot Perry jumped out to join them. In the experiential area there was a wheelchair accessible podium with Perry also in 3-D – a fantastic example of AR creating a truly inclusive experience.

The experience drove participation with 11,000 participants; got people active (6875 calories burned by participants) and delivered cut-through with a 56.4% increase in attention time.

Ocean Labs MD Morgan says: “At Ocean Labs we don’t just develop technology for the sake of it but to create truly immersive experiences that bring people closer to the heart of the brand. On-screen AR works brilliantly for this because it’s seamless, engaging, easy to use and, most of all, fun.

“By combining the ever-increasing uses of mobile with the massive impact of stand-out, high resolution digital screens we have built AR into a tool that enables advertisers of all kinds to create a new and exciting dimension to their brand experience.”