A lot of brands boast about their interest in innovation—but United Airlines recently put its money where its mouth is with the opening of its Airshop innovation center. The futuristic venue, which opened in Arlington Heights, Ill., in March, is an immersive space designed for both public demonstrations and internal design and development work.
United teamed up with experiential design studio Next/Now on the state-of-the-art experience lab, which incorporates visual storytelling, projection mapping, and multiple interactive content modes. Next/Now had previously worked in the experience center space for brands like Accenture and Phillips—and had also worked with United on large-scale digital content projects, like the airline’s Denver Airport lobby presence, an animated experience at the check-in desk that showcases Colorado’s landscapes. 
The space uses visual storytelling, projection mapping, and interactive content modules to showcase the future of aviation.Photo: Courtesy of Next/Now
As for the Airshop center, “United went into this with a crystal-clear concept: to create a space that embodied and enabled innovation and collaboration across the company,” remembered Alan Hughes, Next/Now's founder and chief creative officer. “While already innovation-focused, they saw the benefits of coalescing around an incredible team and dedicated space to facilitate the energy of their mindset.”
Hughes described the center as a “working lab,” with dedicated areas for testing new digital and physical concepts, advanced 3D printing, and other future-forward initiatives. The centerpiece of the lab is an immersive theater, which uses three high-lumen NEC projections to create projection-mapped content on three walls. The theater will be utilized for advanced visualization of existing and future airport environments, plus real-time collaboration, immersive presentations, and life-size one-to-one 3D training modules. 
Next/Now’s custom content management system has different modules for development and demonstration purposes. Visitors can easily control and change the room’s visuals via a tablet.Photo: Courtesy of Next/Now
“Our team aligned and pixel-mapped these projectors for a seamless 270-degree immersive panorama,” explained Hughes. “From a motion design perspective, one of the highlights of a visit to the space is a high-end ‘anthem’ video introducing the United Airshop concept. Our internal team of animators, motion-graphic specialists, and audio designers crafted a powerful, visually stunning motion video that kicks off the experience.”
So, how do you create an immersive space worthy of being called an innovation center, particularly in the already high-tech world of airlines? For Hughes and the Next/Now team, the answer was “sheer ambition.” “Integrating real-time metaverse visuals, volumetric scans of existing airports, advanced video playback, data visualization, and collaboration tools in a user-friendly system was key,” he said. 
As the innovation center grows and the brand’s needs for the space shift, Next/Now’s CMS can quickly add, update, or reimplement features.Photo: Courtesy of Next/Now
To do this, Next/Now leaned into Activate360, the company's own customizable content management system (CMS) software. “It allows us to create very specialized media playback and interactive systems for projects that are truly unique—think unlimited large-scale LED video walls, motion and gesture control, ultra-high-pixel-count video content, real-time data visualizations, multi-projector displays, and more,” Hughes noted. “This system is easily customized by us to allow intuitive and simple control of exceedingly complex AV systems.”
The end result gives attendees the flexibility to change the room’s content from any vantage point with a simple, easy-to-use tablet. “Leaning on our UI/UX team to design not only interface elements but the entire user experience allowed us to design and test well before programming began,” he added. “The end result is a powerful tool that is easy, and enjoyable, to use.”
