HBO’s SXSWesteros house promoted the cable network's hit series Game of Thrones and featured an interactive sword-playing game where attendees used Bluetooth-enabled swords to hit targets on a screen. Before the activity, participants posed for photos that were then incorporated into the game.
Samsung housed the “Insurgent Shatter Reality” virtual reality experience. Using Samsung VR technology, guests could visit the realm from the Divergent film series.
A large interactive table at the center FX’s Fearless Factory showcased the television channel's mobile app. Smaller tablets were built within side tables, too.
At the premiere party for the CW’s iZombie hosted by BuzzFeed, Emotiv headsets were provided to guests who were able to see their brain activities in response to eating different types of 3-D-printed candy made on the premises. Guests were allowed to email themselves a copy of their scans.
At the fifth annual Fast Company Grill, sponsor Toyota unveiled an Oculus Rift distracted driving simulator. Participants donned the device and sat in the driver’s seat of a Toyota and replicated a drive through an active and noisy street.
Users entered the Bose Southbooth, covered in mirrors and disco balls, and chose a single song to add to the official Spotify SXSW playlist.
Boffin’s Lab featured a demonstration of Leap Motion headset technology, where guests were taken on a virtual reality through a forest.
The department store featured a Twitter mirror in the artist area at its Make Some Noise house. Users were able to take photos of themselves, add additional content like text and drawings, and then tweet out the image through the brand’s Twitter account.
At General Electric's BBQ Research Center, participants put on color-coded brainwave scanners to see how their brains reacted while eating different barbecue cuts and sides.
Yahoo showcased the brand’s digital magazine content through projections on a cube set up near the entrance of the venue during the daytime. For evening events like the Community and Sin City Saints parties, images from the shows were shown.
Mophie helped rescue attendees with dying phone batteries by sending out St. Bernards with a Mophie power reserve unit within a barrel attached to the dog’s collar. Those seeking help had to take a screenshot of their dying battery screen as well as their location, and tweet at the brand. The St. Bernards were housed at the MophieRescue Lodge, where the products were showcased. The organization also worked with the St. Bernard Rescue Foundation to raise awareness of adoptable St. Bernards across the country.
Extending its Made by You initiative, Converse photographed professional portaits of attendees’ sneakers in the style of the ad campaign. The images were then displayed on screens in the space. For those who weren’t wearing the brand, lucky guests were given free shoes at random.
The premiere party for Unfriended, which was screened at SXSW, featured live streams of the current event throughout the space, alongside a Twitter feed of the party’s hashtag, mimicking the film’s plot centered on live video chats.
HBO’s Silicon Valley returned to the Mashable House with several activations, including Scheimpflüg’s Time Slice 360-degree photo booth, the images from which guests could email to themselves.
The TED Conference officially wrapped last Friday, drawing about 1,300 attendees from 46 countries for the event’s signature 18-minute talks at the main program at the Vancouver Convention Centre. After getting sneak peaks of the day’s talks, visual artist Derek Cascio worked overnight to draw massive black and white murals of those themes onto the walls of the convention center with a dry-erase tool known as IdeaPaint. Then attendees added their own layers as the sessions got underway.
Catering at TEDActive included deconstructed takes on bloody Marys served in shot glasses.
This year, the weekend-long showcase, which is part of the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, took place at New York's Pier 92 from Thursday to Monday. Inspired by the ceramics of South African artist Ruan Hoffmann and murals by Rebecca Rebouche, interior designer Alexis Givens created a moonlight feast setting for Anthropologie with a ceiling covering made from bright blue plastic cups.
Smartwater's space aimed to reflect the brand's natural water purification process, which is inspired by rain clouds. The fluffy fixtures lit up like a storm above the simple table setting.
This year's South by Southwest ran March 13 to 22. Mophie helped rescue attendees with dying phone batteries by sending out St. Bernards with a Mophie power reserve unit within a barrel attached to a dog collar. Those seeking help had to take a screenshot of their dying battery screen as well as their location, and tweet at the brand. The St. Bernards were housed at the MophieRescue Lodge, where the products were showcased.
On March 8, Moët & Chandon hosted a champagne bash at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills to celebrate tennis pro Roger Federer's 1,000th win. A photo op let guests pose with a tower of champagne bottles and a tilted frame with the hashtag #MoetMoment.
The theme for the retailer's 2015 flower show is "Art in Bloom." In the Pop Art garden at the Chicago store, moss and plants spell out the words "bloom" and "flower" in comics-like signage. The show runs through April 14.
To mark the premiere of E!'s new scripted series The Royals, riders in New York and Los Angeles were treated to a regal ride in a Rolls-Royce through a partnership between the TV network and Uber. The “Ride Like a Royal” campaign, which ran March 12 to 15 and was produced by Civic Entertainment Group, gave free rides to more than 300 riders who entered a promo code in the Uber app. Once en route to their destination, guests were able to view Royals content in the car as well as play dress up in crowns and tiaras, sharing selfies marked with #TheRoyals hashtag on social media.
In Orlando, the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival features topiary shaped like familiar characters. In one arrangement, a leafy Miss Piggy sits atop a suitcase, waving at passersby. The show runs through May 17.
The Philadelphia Flower Show returned to the Pennsylvania Convention Center February 28 to March 8 and included several events aimed at niche audiences. Children who attended the Cinderella Sunday event were encouraged to dress up as their favorite princes and princesses. Decor at the Cinderella event included blue toile tablecloths and sweet arrangements of roses in mint julep cups.
