Along with two performance stages and a DJ dome, the festival provided attendees with a daylong, misted, open-air dance party that had continuous DJ sets. At night, hanging LED lights above the checkered dance floor turned different colors.
Sponsored by HP and curated by Meta.is, the Lab showcased new digital art exhibits including “Future Portrait,” a motion-capture art installation that welcomed attendees into the experience. Created by Brooklyn-based creative studio Prism, the exhibit translated a participants movement into animation using HP technology.
A photo booth at the beginning of the experience allowed attendees to take holographic-inspired shots in a box created with mirrors and neon lights that changed colors.
“Boolean Planet,” an interactive installation created by Future Wife with music by Max Cooper, invited attendees to play with a giant inflatable sphere. By touching the outside of the sphere, people could create sound and moving visuals.
“Heartfelt,” a participatory installation created by artist and designer Ekene Ijeoma, invited participants to use their bodies as conductors by touching various poles. When each pole was touched, the installation created a heart with lights.
The Lab’s 90-foot dome held more than 200 festivalgoers at a time to experience a 360-degree show called “The Ark.” The show, which depicted a mythic journey of intergalactic survival in the search for a new home, was created by Brooklyn-based content design and experiential production company Dirt Empire.
The animated interactive Mic Drop station invited attendees to dance and pose based on changing animations.
Inside the dome, guests were invited to participate in a number of immersive art activities. These included designing and printing custom scarfs using on the HP Pavilion X360 using Windows Ink, taking 120-degree light painting photos designed by artist Eric Park, dancing to manipulate virtual reality by artist Android Jones, and creating kaleidoscope patterns that were reflected in laser light shows on the dome.
Whiskey brand Glenfiddich hosted a sensory experience in a dome that invited guests to sample unique cocktails, learn about how whiskey colors influence taste, and discover how whiskey texture influences smell.
A giant, branded black marker board invited guests to write what beauty meant to them by filling in the blanks.
The “Gathering Tree,” which was designed using the brand’s blue and white colors, invited attendees to play a game with paper fortune tellers for a chance to win festival wearables and swag. Fortunes were placed in jars that were strung from the structure.
At night, the structure's facade, which was produced by VolvoxLabs, lit up with colorful, projection-mapped ultra-high-definition videos of designs that continuously changed.
Attendees could physically interact with Hyper Thread, a silk tent that featured seven silk hammocks. Created by Dave Rife and Gabe Liberti, the exhibit enabled festivalgoers to make new sounds by moving around in the hammocks.
A photo op allowed guests to step into a booth that looked like a hot-air balloon, and pose in front a whimsical backdrop.
Clif Bar also had an area filled with postcards for guests to color in. The postcards featured drawings made by Chicago artist Shawn Smith.
Comic-Con International, which was held from July 20 to 23 in San Diego, is known for over-the-top stunts and interactive fan experiences. Comedy Central series Broad City got in on the action for the first time this year with a life-size coloring book activation. Illustrations designed by Broad City artist Mike Perry covered the walls and furniture.
