Memory Observatory

In 2016, Kodak re-launched their Kodak Moments app at SxSW.

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The app encourages users to relive their most meaningful moments by capturing the story behind it. Adding words provides the sensorial context that a photo alone cannot capture, so you can relive and share your most precious memories in a deeper and more meaningful way.

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Our challenge was to bring the experience of the app to life in a truly immersive, sensory and experiential way.

SpecialGuest partnered with tech and design company Junior.

We concepted and built a traveling installation to explore memory through the senses and the meaning of moments in the digital age.

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The Memory Observatory is a physical manifestation of the Kodak app, inviting participants to step inside a memory. Participants selected a meaningful photo from their phone and worked with an experiential guide to reconstruct the memory in detail. The guide then curated a multisensory installation of color, sound, smell, and light based on the participants’ recalled experience.

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The installation premiered at SXSW and was experienced by thousands of tech-savvy (and Kodak-skeptical) attendees.

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Press pickups by Engadget, Adweek, and over 200 others generated more than 500MM impressions in just a few days, giving Kodak a much-needed brand image boost in a rapidly evolving market.