How can bullet time be re-imagined to create an immersive art and storytelling experience? The Mill’s emerging technology team answered this with a re-invention of the traditional photo booth. The final product was The Motion Aura Machine.
Collaborating with Digital Air, a company that specialized in 360-degree camera rigs, The Mill created an installation that blends spiritual aura photography with classic photography techniques and a 360-degree 32-camera rig to visualize the movement and emotion of a moment frozen in time.
Led by The Mill’s Executive Creative Director Rama Allen, the installation captures each user’s inner spirit through motion, creating an intricate and captivating image of light smears through time, with users trapped in a statue of motion.
To bring the installation into fruition, the Emerging Technology team created a series of light painted backgrounds. These were then rendered and composited into a range of colours and forms. They then developed custom scripts, which enabled an automated and randomized publishing pipeline.
Over 100 different fortunes (motion auras) were developed and then randomized through script. The script automatically selects a background and aura, creating a series of unique shapes for each user who steps into the installation.
The Motion Aura Machine provides a unique and theatrical immersive photo booth experience, allowing users to take away their distinct and personalized motion auras via email and Tumblr.