‘Fact or Fantasy’ is a world-first mixed-reality experience on the Magic Leap platform and is designed to connect family and friends through the reinvention of the traditional board game. Commissioned by Air New Zealand, the goal of the project was to showcase New Zealand as a holiday destination and to use the latest in technology to do so.

The game was Framestore’s first project on the Magic Leap platform, and engages with four users at a time by augmenting a physical 3D game board with visually-impressive virtual elements. These include a host, competitive quiz questions and a host of digital animated characters and objects including a talking Kiwi bird, whales that jump out of the board like it’s the ocean and an Air New Zealand plane that flies above the game.

It needed to be visually-impressive, immersive and put together in a way that allowed it to be moved to multiple locations around the globe. As the creative idea slowly developed into an augmented reality board game, Magic Leap platform became the obvious choice.

ThoughtFull, a creative studio in New Zealand started working on the physical props while Framestore began creating the digital augmentations that would bring it to life. The creative studio’s industry-leading experience in CG images meant it could easily introduce the best way to bridge the physical and digital to make this mixed-reality experience as good as possible.

This project is one that has several unique features. It’s the world’s first mixed reality multiplayer experience that takes advantage of the new generation of AR devices in the Magic Leap platform. It was designed in a way that everyone would see the same thing but from different perspectives, personalising the experience.

The project premiered at the Magic Leap LEAP Conference in LA on 10th October 2018. After that the project was showcased in London and is currently being displayed in New Zealand.

Talking about the experience, Sir William Sargent, CEO, Framestore said: ‘We are storytellers at Framestore, first and foremost; innovation courses in our veins. The promise of mixed reality excites us enormously, and we are delighted that this project with Air New Zealand and Magic Leap provides us with the chance to show the world the extraordinary potential of this new medium, as we experiment with new ways to share narratives.’

Air New Zealand General Manager of Global Brand and Content Marketing, Jodi Williams, says harnessing new technologies to connect with existing and future customers is a strategic priority for Air New Zealand. “This partnership is an important step towards understanding the part spatial computing could play in the future customer experience both on the ground and in the air.

“By getting in early and being both a developer and creator we have been able to test and learn, creating an incredible platform from which to explore the potential of this technology.”