Interactive Santa Claus
– a face tracking installation
 

The annual Christmas and New Year’s party is a big deal at one of the largest Russian banks. At the end of 2017, we helped them to celebrate by creating a fun entertainment segment. Everyone had a chance to talk on the phone with a 3D Santa Claus who was answering guests’ video calls.

The host on stage was able to place a Skype call to a virtual Santa Claus and speak to him in person. We had designed and modeled a 3D Santa Claus in his cozy home and made it in paper-cut toy style.

Via motion capturing technology and Real Sense camera, an actor behind the scenes gave life to the 3D model. We have tried to provide an actor with maximum flexibility. Santa was able to answer individual questions and reacted to the audience as if he was a real person. Additionally, we added some custom effects to make the scene more dynamic.

Santa did not read the text with programmed intonation and facial expressions, but literally “came to life” on the screen interacting with the audience. Interactive animation and live responses of Santa have done their job and had an impact on the audience, immersing them for a few moments in childhood, when you can ask Santa anything you want. It was a real New Year Evening!