Currency devaluation, a rise in consumer prices and a fall in incomes, means that Russia has become a poor country again. For many people, travelling overseas has simply become too expensive with 70% of Russians having never left Russia.

Fiercely competing for its share of the domestic air travel business, S7 Airlines - one of Russia’s biggest carriers - briefed us to come up with an idea that would put the wonder back in travel. An idea that would transform travel in people’s minds from being something expensive to something invaluable. Something that would encourage people to explore the best planet we know.

The objective being to reframe the value of airline travel, drive fame for the brand and grow S7’s share of domestic travel.

EARTH7 interactive experience enabled people to pilot the unique space rover and explore a remote desert 5000 km away. While sitting in front of a huge screen with EARTH7 livestream, participants were able to play AR game and remotely control the 75kg aluminium machine by just a flick of the wrist. Each pilot had a mission to find 3 samples of life on Earth: from jamón to skiing. The collectables were rendered dynamically over live video and placed according to the rover GPS data. Voice of Mission Control Center guided every pilot to complete the mission. Each participant driving the rover had the opportunity to win return tickets to any S7 destination worldwide.

Entering the location people would instantly get into the EARTH7 Mission Control Center. 72 sq.m. of futuristic, spaceship-like experience zone. Sound design created a deep space atmosphere and a specially crafted chair provided planetary rover pilot experience.

Within 2 months we had to construct a nearly unbreakable rover, develop an augmented reality game, design and built futuristic sci-fi installation and establish high-speed lag free connection between the event location and distant desert 5000 km away.

The event took place in one of the busiest public spaces in Moscow. Anyone could participate. In the immersive augmented reality game every pilot had a chance to win a ticket to any S7 destination, if he collected 3 samples of life on Earth, like jamon or K-pop. Over 50 samples were dynamically rendered over the rover’s livestream, providing for each user a unique gaming experience. This game was displayed on a 5 meter wide curved screen with live sound from the desert.

To make the experience feel like a real game, rover reactions had to be less than a second. No satellite solutions could ensure this. So we created our own dedicated channel. 97% of the way the signal was transmitted through fiber optics and for the last 100 km we set up an airMAX wireless channel in the middle of the desert.

Piloting the rover had to be intuitive. We used MYO armband that read hand muscles impulses with an electromyographic sensor and sent signals to the rover. This gesture powered interface turned advanced robotics system into a fun gaming experience.

EARTH7 was built to operate autonomously for hours during the live game. It could survive unpredictable human actions and driving on a rough desert surface. The rocker-bogie suspension with aluminum wheels helped the 75 kg machine to overcome obstacles up to 40 cm and drive on inclines up to 45 degrees. A centimeter-accurate GPS, gyroscope and accelerometer were constantly sending the location data to the game server in order to identify the rover’s position whithin the game area.