Title	HONDA AFRICA TWIN AR
Brand	HONDA MOTOR EUROPE
Product/Service	HONDA AFRICA TWIN MOTORBIKES
Category	A03. Augmented Mobile Experience
Entrant	INDG Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation	INDG Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Bas Gal	INDG	Founder

The Campaign

When Honda came to us to build an app around the re-release of their legendary Africa Twin endurance touring bike, we jumped at the opportunity to virtually place the bike in the hands of fans around the globe, before it was physically available. After seeing concepts that we had previously produced, Honda was convinced that augmented reality was the right approach. This would allow enthusiasts to explore the bike as if it was in front of them in a dealership or even in their own home.

Creative Execution

Through the research and inspiration phase we discovered that using real-time 3D was the best option to create a smooth and engaging user experience. Teams were created to tackle the design, interactive, 3D, and development workflows. To ensure our augmented reality experience stand out amongst other AR apps, we used our own AR framework and several in-house processes to achieve maximum accuracy of the bike models in AR mode: • We utilized the Unity 3D Gaming Engine, with custom produced shaders to enhance the vast materials at the smallest details with lighting changes. • The image captured by the device camera is used to provide lighting and reflection helping to further integrate the bike into the environment. • Ambient occlusion is used to approximate how bright light should be shining on any specific part of a surface, based on the light and its environment. This provides realistic self-shadowing, adding depth to the model and preventing the bike from appearing to be floating in the environment. • With spatially aware, markerless technology, riders could check out a realistic augmented reality bike in any environment.

Honda Africa Twin app that allowed motorcycle enthusiasts to accurately visualize the new Africa Twin at their chosen location and select basic customization options. The app was released publicly worldwide and reached a global audience with overwhelmingly positive reviews (4.4. rating in the Play Store from 144 reviews). Something we didn’t expect was users finding a more playful side to the app as they placed the Africa Twin bikes in novel places such as the palm of their hand, next to their favorite beer and on top of their dinner. Many of these images were shared on social media, further increasing the reach of the app.

Our solution was to make an augmented reality application to bring the bike to life before its official release date. On top of that we added more in-depth interactivity to let users explore all the key features and color variations of the bike. Creating the effect of surprise and excitement that comes with seeing a bike that is not really there required the highest level of realism possible. Our original concept evolved from dealer to a user audience, meaning we also needed to ensure that the app, initially optimized for iPad worked across a wide range of android and iOS devices.