NIKE Olympics Track & Field Trails

Overview & Challenge

For an immersive Nike brand experience, I was responsible for the art direction, design, and motion testing of an experimental 360-degree immersive dome installation. This project was designed to allow users to physically engage with the Nike brand and experience special moments within a large, 360-degree dome. The final output was implemented to be user-responsive through coding, specifically enabling 16 runners on treadmills to experience the Nike brand and product anew as their movements were visualized on a 360-degree screen inside the dome.

The core challenge of this project was to abstractly express the energy of both the Nike Flyknit Lunar product and the 16 runners. It was crucial to convey a sensation of speed visually, while utilizing the unique characteristics of the 360-degree innovation dome to create a race-like, dynamic visual experience.

Approach & Solution

In this project, I focused on visually connecting the characteristics of the Flyknit Lunar with the movements of the runners to effectively convey the energy of both the product and the users.

1. Visualizing Flyknit and Running

I visually implemented the core elements of Nike Flyknit Lunar: its elastic, thin thread material, and the sole's pattern and spikes. Additionally, runners were represented as white dots and tracks as lines, organically connecting the Flyknit's characteristics with the runners' movements. These visual elements served as the foundation for abstractly expressing the sole pattern and spikes within the waveforms generated by the runners.

2. Dynamic Waveform Generation through Runner Movement

I designed unique waveforms generated by the 16 runners, reflecting their individual weights and diverse speeds. These waveforms were conceived by combining two key characteristics of the Flyknit Lunar product: its thin thread and elasticity. As each runner, represented by a dot, moved, the resulting waveform was expressed as if multiple strands of Lunar's thin, elastic threads moved fluidly yet powerfully according to each runner, dynamically visualizing their energy and movement.

3. 360-Degree Immersive Graphic Environment

These abstract graphic waveforms, dynamically responding to the runners' real-time performance, were projected onto a 360-degree screen that unfurled like a circular track. These vividly rendered waveforms reflected the runners' diverse speeds and weights, providing users with an impressive immersive experience.

Nike 360° Immersive Performance Dome

The first dome featured a 360-degree screen alongside physical Nike products. This screen abstractly visualized Flyknit's characteristics and organic movements, creating a visual connection to the runner's experience in the second dome. The 360-degree display within the dome was depicted as a connected track, with running dots symbolizing runners and trailing threads and spikes visualizing Flyknit's features.

Nike Virtual Run Dome: Treadmill Experience & Infinite Horizons

These style frames are the screens runners see while on the treadmills installed in the second dome. Inspired by the movie "Inception," I designed them as unrealistic, endlessly repeating 360-degree forms that don't exist in reality.

Project Outcome

This project presented an innovative approach to the Nike brand experience, successfully implementing a unique interactive installation that combined technology and artistic design, allowing users to directly feel the energy of the brand and product.

Client: Nike
CD, Nike Brand Design: Ray Butts & John Moon

Interactive Experiences & Design: Fake Love
Creative Direction: Layne Braunstein
Producer: Alex Robbins
Art Direction, Design & Motion test: Hyejin June Hong
Experiential Scenic Design: RUF PROJECTS
Additional Onsite Video Assets: TENDRIL
Case Study Video: WE ARE ALLEGORY

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