Yehuda Duenyas

Netflix: The Midnight Sky

‘This project couldn’t have come to us at a more salient time. At a moment in history where the very thing that makes us human–connection–felt so out of reach, we were able to create a piece of technology that took video messaging to an entirely new level. We enabled people to holographically communicate with one another, which was exciting from a technological perspective, but even more so from an experiential perspective. It’s hard to understate just how magical it was to see your friends and loved ones appear in your home — on your wall, your coffee table, or even sitting across the dinner table, delivering their messages to you. It was heartfelt, silly, and in a word, magical.’

Yehuda Duenyas, Creative Director, UNIT9

The background

During a time when in-person connection was limited, Netflix wanted to create a brand-new way for people to spend time together. So to celebrate the launch of The Midnight Sky, directed by and starring George Clooney, we turned to technology and the power of AR to help people feel close to their loved ones.

The execution

The Midnight Sky hologram experience was a groundbreaking mobile AR experience that allowed people to communicate with one another via hologram. In the film, crew members use holographic memories to remember their loved ones during long space voyages. We brought this idea to life and created an experiential AR message system.

The first-of-its-kind microsite allowed users to record short videos of themselves and send them to friends and family. Recipients could play the video messages in an AR environment, making it seem as if the sender was there in person.

AR is an ever-changing technology, and the goal of this project was to create something that had never been done before. Our team developed many novel solutions that overcame roadblocks and pushed the boundaries of AR technology to new places.

The results

The hologram experience idea was simple, but the execution packed a powerful
emotional punch and instilled a new sense of hope in everyone who tried it. It came along at a time when connection felt out of reach, and it was rewarding to help people find it again.