• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 21, 2020

Netflix and UNIT9 launched an artificial reality project on Monday inspired by the upcoming George Clooney movie, "The Midnight Sky."

The project, a social hologram and digital microsite inspired by the movie, introduces an augmented reality (AR) tool to send hologram video messages to friends and family for the holidays.

8th Wall augmented reality (AR) technology powers the tool, which requires users to provide access to their phone’s camera and microphone.  

Yehuda Duenyas, experiential director at UNIT9, believes that despite the need for distancing from loved ones this holiday season, people still crave connections with family and friends. He wants to help foster these connections through innovative technology.

He said this is the first time the technology has been used to send messages like these -- and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The microsite opens with a welcome message from George Clooney, giving site visitors the ability to place the hologram in their own environments, and fans of the film are encouraged to share hologram messages on social media.

Once recorded, a filter is applied to the videos to make them 3D, with curved holograms that the receiver can play on any flat surface. There’s also a George Clooney hologram message. With most people separated from loved ones for the holidays.

"The Midnight Sky," the movie, premieres on Netflix on December 23. It is directed by George Clooney and features Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone, Demián Bichir and Kyle Chandler. It also introduces newcomer Caoilinn Springall.

Throughout the film, the astronauts are able to view holographic images of their friends and families as a way to cope with the isolation. This project brings the holograms from the film to life and uses AR, an emotion-evoking technology, to create moments of connection for families and friends who are separated this holiday season.