"Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined" is a mixed reality experience powered by Microsoft HoloLens that allowed auto, film, and gaming fans to explore two iconic vehicles in an entirely new way. By combining the physical vehicles — the Warthog from Halo and the DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future — with a custom mixed reality experience, we were able to immerse visitors completely in these worlds. Narrated by Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale and the character Guilty Spark from Halo, the experience brought to life not only the cars themselves, but the worlds they inhabit.

To celebrate their 25th anniversary in true Hollywood fashion, the Petersen Automotive Museum teamed up with the Comic-Con Museum to spotlight iconic cars in their collection with "Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy." To enhance the exhibit, Microsoft worked with the Petersen to develop a mixed reality experience encompassing two cars from the installation: The Warthog from Halo and the DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future. Our experience, "Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined" sought to immerse guests further, adding new context and new dimensions (literally!) to their visit while also showcasing Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, an untethered mixed reality device that allowed guests to walk all the way around each vehicle in their explorations.

Start your engines — and don your HoloLens. "Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined" is a mixed reality experience powered by Microsoft, that allowed visitors to explore two iconic vehicles in an entirely new way. While the Warthog from Halo and the DeLorean Time Machine from "Back to the Future" were physically stationed within the Petersen Automotive Museum, our mixed reality experience brought the worlds of those vehicles to life around them. Guilty Spark from Halo took fans on a guided tour of the Warthog, while Bob Gale (co-creator of "Back to the Future") led guests around the Time Machine as part of a custom scripted experience that we recorded with both. This immersion afforded greater detail and enhanced the analog museum experience during their visit.

Our target was a millennial/Gen Z movie buff, gamer, or automotive enthusiast, crossed with Microsoft’s Tech Active target, a millennial/Gen Z early adopter. By partnering with both the Petersen and Comic-Con, we could confidently reach our target audience: We netted 30 million impressions across that specific demographic.

We worked closely with the Petersen to determine which vehicles to create a mixed reality experience for. Considerations around guest traffic and throughput, car positioning, HoloLens tracking capabilities, and IP (since these vehicles were all featured in either a TV show, film, or video game) were tantamount. Once we landed on the Warthog and the DeLorean Time Machine, we scripted a mixed reality experience that would build a holographic world around them and allow guests to get a more detailed look at the vehicles. Collaborating with 343 Studios (creators of Halo) and Bob Gale (co-creator of Back to the Future), we were able to create an experience that was true to both titles and would excite fans of both franchises. The exhibit opened to the public in May of 2019, with campaign support from Microsoft, Petersen, Comic-Con, Halo, and more.

From an engagement and throughput angle, this experience ranks in the top 5 HoloLens experiences globally. It’s also one of the top 5 most trafficked exhibitions in the Petersen’s history, proving that our work was both exciting and engaging to visitors. We meaningfully connected these fan-favorite vehicles in a new way for guests, while showcasing Microsoft’s mixed reality technology, which many visitors were using for the very first time. We were able to challenge notions of storytelling and the museum experience itself.