“We’ve used SunBrite displays for other outdoor installations, and they always performed exactly as we needed,” Stewart says.
“So we knew that we had to have a screen that would work in many different conditions, from bright sun and heat in Rio to indoor locations across Canada. We knew [SunBrite TV’s] new 84-inch 4K display would be the right choice.
“The image quality was fantastic, and while the size and weight of the display did cause us to get creative with the assembly and construction of the doors, it worked out great.”
Beyond Skype, Facetime …
Meanwhile, wonderMakr also had to get creative when it came to ensuring signal integrity for the Brazil-to-Canada video chats, coming up with a specific algorithm.
The creative technology studio didn’t want any of the technical drawbacks of common applications like Skype, What’s App, Facetime and others – things like dropped chats, lag time, etc.—to dampen the enthusiasm and excitement of these special connections.
“We could not be limited by these issues and rely on someone else’s network configuration, so we went about it in a different fashion,” Stewart says. “We set up hosting in Sao Paulo and Toronto and ensured our connection had as few bounces around the Internet as we could. This coupled with a custom algorithm to make sure we kept the connection to an average delay of 800 milliseconds, which allowed for natural conversations.”
Photos of athletes, family and friends experiencing Red Door to Rio
Technology-wise, it went off relatively hitch-less.
“Once people began their conversations, it was very fluid and just like using one of the platforms like Skype or Facetime, but with a stronger more consistent connection,” Stewart says.
“The sheer scale of the door also drew people in. They understood the mechanic being used [being] video chat, but at a size they had never seen before.”
That novelty added to the drama.
The majority of the time the Canadian Tire customers stepped up to the closed red door without knowing who would be on the other side. Then, the doors would open to reveal one of the athletes and the customers would have a chance to ask them questions and have a conversation.
A few times, Canadian Tire and wonderMakr were able to surprise the athletes in Rio by opening the door to reveal a family member.
By the end, the campaign had more than 2.6 million views online using the hashtag #StepUpandStandTall.
