The installation - named “Brighter in the Dark” - was created in partnership with Google Pixel & Coachella headliner Childish Gambino. The installation opened to the public on the Coachella Festival-grounds as part of the famed Coachella Arts Program. The installation yielded over 101M press impressions in its first weekend of Coachella alone and almost 70% increase in Google’s social engagement from previous years.
As an event - Coachella offers a lot of distractions, but few opportunities to truly connect with a major artist - outside of the stage experience. Childish Gambino wanted to change this reality for his fans and festival-goers. As he explained when speaking of his choice to partner with Google: "Technology, when used correctly, is a perfect companion for art. It can elevate experiences and give a huge reach to things that would otherwise be very localized and limited."
This ethos is the basis of Childish Gambino’s "Brighter in the Dark" experience: two multi-sensory sight and sound temples designed by Childish Gambino to bring his art and unreleased music to life. More specifically - the temples were dedicated to our primary senses of contact (vision and hearing) to give audiences a chance to step away from the madness and find a moment of deeper connection within Gambino’s universe.
These immersive experiences also included a sneak preview of multiplayer AR app “Pharos” on the Google Pixel 3. Built with Unity and ARCore technology, Pharos AR has users walk through an AR portal into a cosmic cave filled with paintings. The paintings begin dancing to the song “Algorythm,” while Childish Gambino appears as a hologram, interacting with users through lyrics and symbols depicted on the cave’s walls. These visuals mimic the design of Gambino’s live show and stage - also inspiring the aesthetic of the design / materiality of the physical temple structures.
An immersive environment dedicated to multi-sensory performances across mediums - all artists featured in the space incorporated A.I. & M.L. as a collaborative tool in their creations. The program showcased classical disciplines reimagined through the use of pioneering technology in robotics, biometrics, and immersive sound. All presentations took place in 4DSOUND — a sound system that enables the production of sound holograms that augment and transform reality as we perceive it, creating vivid auditory environments that blur the boundaries between the real and the imagined.
MONOM is a collective based in Berlin exploring the potential of spatial sound as an expressive medium - they kicked off the night with a demonstration of the 4DSOUND backend. The segment served as a sonic recalibration of one’s senses, tuning you in to the special performances of the night ahead.
The second presentation featured renowned artist Sougwen Chung and her seminal, ongoing series Drawing Operations. Accompanied by a visual projection and an original score by Aquarian - Drawing Operations (Duet) is a performance centered on an improvised drawing collaboration between human and machine. In this duet, Sougwen and Drawing Operations Units: Generation 1&2 create a drawing corresponding to three themes related to human and robotic co-creation: Mimicry, Memory and Future Speculations. Each thematic chapter showcases an evolving robotic behavior linked to the artist's explorations of art and A.I.
The evening concluded with drummer Ian Chang whose live performance makes electronic music physical. Using Sunhouse's Sensory Percussion (a machine learning software that can identify timbral shifts in drumming), Chang improvises a hypnotic, multimedia experience. The result is a unique marriage of raw performative intensity and sophisticated sound and lighting design.
2019 BizBash Most Innovative Meeting
2017 Ex Award Winner - Best B2B Environment
2017 Ex Silver Winner - The Leap of Faith Award
For three days, Google I/O takes over more than 10.5 acres within the Shoreline Amphitheater property in Mountain View, CA, bringing together over 7,000 developers from around the world. The event includes in-depth talks, immersive hands-on learning with Google experts, and an exclusive first look at Google’s latest hardware and software products and features. I/O is vibrant outdoor festival environment designed to empower developers through content, access, connection, and excitement.
The Design
Vibrant, fresh, celebratory, boundary-pushing – these are just some of the ways to describe the overall look and feel of Google I/O 2019, which houses over 136,000 sq. ft. of interactive elements. The event’s vibrant stomping grounds generate excitement among attendees, all the while highlighting Google’s new discoveries and technological breakthroughs.
The inspiration behind the design, which features over 20,000 sq. ft. of exhibits and more than 80,000 sq. ft. of classroom space? Celebrating the potential behind all of Google’s creations — past, present and future. An all-out bash, Google I/O 2019 showcases how far Google has come and what it’s all about — a rallying cry to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Other notable elements? Not only has Google I/O 2019 made strides to be more eco-friendly, it sprinkles AR technology ”Easter Eggs” all throughout as well as multiple art installations — making for a totally multi-sensory experience.
The Experience
Eight stages are built to showcase multiple breakouts throughout the 3-day event. In addition to devouring in-depth content in the breakout sessions, attendees can make their way into any of the nine domes and airclad structures (aka Sandboxes) to demo and experience Google’s latest products and technologies.
Google I/O 2019 attendees can continue their journey with a stroll along ”The Boardwalk,” which houses interactive art installations as part of the I/O Arts Program, Lightning Talks, and an I/O broadcast studio where Team Google hosts interviews throughout the program — it also provides attendees with a place to relax and network. Another exciting feature? A 5,918 sq. ft. Garage where attendees can take in a mix of breakouts and games, Office Hours to consult with Google experts, and Codelabs where “coding is life.” Overall, the Google I/O 2019 campus houses over 3,099 sq. ft. of space for food alone, 4,035 sq. ft. of registration space, 11,567 sq. ft. of porches, a 6,456 sq. ft. breezeway, and another 20,000 sq. ft. of back house structures.
The Nightlife
When it comes to Google I/O 2019, the nightlife is on point! After the exhilarating keynotes, Codelabs, and sessions wrap up, attendees are invited to wind down and enjoy the night with one another, and the options are as endless as they are fun! As Day 1 comes to a close, the I/O Landmark stage comes to life in AR, complete with performances by NVO and East Bay Brass Band. What’s more, back for its 6th I/O in a row, the ever-popular comedy show, Speechless Live (called “comedic gold” by the Wall Street Journal) takes to the Amphitheatre to deliver a performance featuring I/O speakers that is truly hilarious.
Other standout elements of Google I/O After Dark? The I/O Ink Tattoo Studio, where attendees can get (and show off) temporary tattoos. There’s also a performance by the fantastically surreal performance group, The Fungineers, filled with improv, freestyling, and oh did we mention, ice cream — always a win. The options don’t stop there – each Stage transforms into an avenue of fun — from a 70s-themed roller disco (“The Rink”) to “After Glow” which features the talents of Quixotic, blending technology and cirque nouveau — complete with a psychic and a fun light photobooth. ARcade takes attendees back to the days of classic video games, featuring every original arcade game you could ever dream of, with a special AR tribute to the classic Google game — Dino Runner.
Webby Award Winner - People's Choice for Best Virtual Festival / Concert
Cannes Lions - Shortlisted for Best Music Live Experience
Music Clio, Winner of Social Impact Award
Music Clio, Silver for Partnerships/Collaborations
Music Clio, Bronze for Social Good
Clio, Shortlist for Experience/Activation
Pollstar Nominated for Best Livestream Event/Virtual Festival
With the onset of the pandemic and shelter in place, independent music venues have been some of the hardest hit. They were the first to close and they will be the last to reopen. Currently 90% are at risk of closing in the next few months if they don’t receive funding.
The National Independent Venues Association (AKA NIVA) was formed in March as an advocacy group for independent venues across the country. And YouTube seeing the dire state of our cherished venues - wanted to help. We knew our platform with our fundraising tools, resources and global reach could make an impact, culminating with Save Our Stages Fest to raise dollars and awareness. We wanted venues to feel heard, artists to feel empowered, and music fans to feel inspired to donate.
Save Our Stages Fest was a stand-out music moment in 2020. The first-of-its-kind festival amassed 7M unique viewers, raised over $2M for independent venues, secured $2M sponsorship from Anheuser-Busch & brought 35+ of the world’s biggest artists together to perform from cherished venues safely, and earned 450+ national and local press stories. The festival featured acts like Miley Cyrus, YG, Demi Lovato, Leon Bridges, Neil Young, Dave Matthews Band, Reggie Watts, Major Lazer, and more.
Behind the scenes - we wired 20+ venues across the country with live streaming capabilities and trained those venues on best live streaming and covid-safety practices for ongoing content creation and revenue generation.
Most importantly - we contributed meaningfully to the organization’s advocacy efforts - securing $15B in grants as part of the stimulus deal passed in December by Congress.
2020 Communication Arts Interactive Competition
2020 Adweek Experiential Awards (AXA) - Best Use of Music/Audio in an Experiential Activation
2020 American Advertising Awards (ADDY) - Innovative Use of Interactive/Technology (Gold)
The Flaming Lips harnessed the power of Google AI to create a first-of-its kind generative song - played by fruit! We worked with Deeplocal and the Google AI team to collaborate with Wayne Coyne on a special moment during the Flaming Lips performance at Google I/O that demonstrates how AI can enhance creativity for all types of artists.
Together with Google’s Magenta research team, we introduced them to Piano Genie, software developed by Magenta engineers that uses machine learning to compose music. The result was Fruit Genie: a real-time, AI-powered musical instrument that combines Magenta’s model with a physical interface of fruit.
During their performance at I/O - Steven Drozd from The Flaming Lips, who usually plays a variety of instruments, played a “magical bowl of fruit” for the first time. The Flaming Lips are known for their highly interactive live shows that break down the fourth wall between the band and the audience. To include the audience in the performance, we created giant inflatables filled with sensors that signaled the software when touched, adding notes to the song.
The Museum of Developer Art (MoDA) pursues the mission to showcase leading artists in the fields of computational arts and creative coding. Curated by Alex Czetwertynski - this collection of works explores technologies as they develop and how artists adapt and respond accordingly. In some cases, the inner workings of a given technology become the center of attention,; in others, the unusual use of a given technique shows how hidden possibilities lie behind the established narratives. Leveraging technologies developed or maintained by Google (Pixel phones, Firebase, ARCore, and GAN among others), MoDa showcases creative uses for these tools and platforms, and in the process invites its audience to a novel interaction with familiar systems.
Featured artists include: Adam Ferris &Katherine Hollenbach from the UCLA Conditional Studio, Harald Haraldsson, Freeka Tet, Vincent Houze, and Ezra Miller.
2018 Webby Honoree, Website & Mobile
FWA Site of the Day
CSS Site of the Day
Collaborating with highly-regarded Data Arts team - we developed and produced a cross-functional partnership between LCD Soundsystem and Google.
Together - we created Dance Tonite a virtual dance party that allows users to move in time to the music and submit their own VR-recorded choreography to the experience. The VR project was debuted and demoed at Google I/O via a real life re-creation of the video’s virtual world, including a live dj set by LCD band member Nancy Whang.
Timed with the release of the latest album “American Dream” - Google then live-streamed their performance from our yearly developer conference. This broader partnership secured more than (34) original stories, plus additional syndicated articles, within mainstream consumer, tech and music trade outlets including Billboard, Variety, Pitchfork, Mashable, The Verge and more.
Role: Executive Producer w/ Google Arts & Culture, VT Pro, Done & Dusted
2021 Webby Honoree - Apps & Software
2021 Webby Honoree - Entertainment
Blob Opera is the world’s first machine learning opera quartet powered by singing colorful blobs created by Google Arts & Culture. Artist David Li and the team developed a machine learning model trained on the voices of four opera singers. The recordings were fed into a convolutional neural network which learned how to reproduce each voice type based on what it heard. One neural network generates opera singing, while a second model was used to generate notes for the voices to harmonize with each other.
Deemed "the best thing on the web" in 2020 - Blob Opera made a comeback during the pandemic - launching a world tour with expanded features and surprise in real life performance. Tune-Yards is the California–based music project of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, and Merrill is well-known for her extraordinary, experimental vocals. To kick off the Blob tour - the Tune-Yards performed four songs with our Blob quartet, including crowd favorites like "Gangsta" and a special cover of "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer. David Li and VT Pro created a custom version of Blob Opera, introducing 24 new blobs to the experiment that were optimized for live performance. This allowed Tune-Yard’s to play individual characters via separate midi channels and musical elements.
To translate a beloved web experiment into a real life experience was the culmination of a variety of mediums and inputs - the concert truly blended art, technology, and music in a playful and wonderfully weird way.
The results: 550k+ people tuned in to watch the livestream, with another 11m+ view on Blob Opera viral content, 5.5 M users and counting, and over 146m organic social impressions.
What are our emotions? Where do our emotions come from? What do our emotions feel like? How can we understand them?
When the the Dalai Lama imagined "a map of our emotions to develop a calm mind” - he asked his longtime friend and renowned emotion scientist Dr. Paul Ekman to realize his idea. From their conversations and work of father/daughter team Drs. Paul & Eve Ekman The Atlas of Emotions was born. The Atlas is a online visual tool developed to build an emotional language that helps us answer these very questions.
In partnership with Dr. Eve Ekman, The Greater Good Science Center at U.C. Berkeley, and 4DSOUND - InBodied is an experiential evolution of the web-based Atlas, one that brought emotional awareness off the screen and into the body via cutting-edge immersive technologies. This iteration of Atlas of Emotions used art to manifest interoceptive awareness through direct sensory activation within the context of a live, shared experience of emotional resonance.
For the InBodied series - we partnered experimented with the artist’s ability to to impact the bodies of the audience within a shared spatial sound landscape. Utilizing advanced motion-capture technology - the emotional / physical state of the artist is directly connected to the audience as the performers quite literally moves sound through the space, and in turn, the bodies of the audience via gestures and expression. Traversing hyperrealistic imagined sonic worlds - digital opera artist Amanda Gregory enacts a fundamental human journey of longing and belonging - a duet as the performer elegantly merges voice with nature and self-perpetuating ML sonic entities.
This new work was presented at three major tech & creativity festivals, both in the United States and Europe in Summer 2019.
Creator Summit brings together YouTube’s most important influencers into one place to get face time with the brand, build connections with each other, and have the time of their lives. These annual Summits provide a space to open minds and spark thought-provoking discussions among Industry Leaders, YouTube Executives, and Top Creators all in this safe space. Here we facilitate direct conversations with creators around the future of media, entertainment, & creativity itself.
While less than 100 individuals are selected to attend each summit, the guests in attendance have such an important voice & expansive reach that these private, intimate events generate (literally) billions of earned social impressions.
Along with content - we also curate high-touch experiences and once-in-a lifetime programming of all kinds. Held globally - there are four Regional Summit, YT Gaming Summit, and #YouTubeBlack - taking place in diverse cultural hubs such as Paris, Berlin, New York, Palm Springs, Washington DC, Rio, and Tokyo. We work extensively with these local markets to make sure we bring that city’s unique offerings to life - both through creative design & execution and meaningful partnerships with local businesses, artists, and venues. There’s been everything from jeep rides in the desert, barbecues in abandoned candy factories, dinners on private boats to stunt driving and private tours of the Smithsonian.
Role: Executive Creative Producer w/ Set Creative, Deep Local
2019 The One Club Honoree - Best in Spatial Design
Billions of people know Google for search and software. But not many people, relatively speaking, knew much about Google Hardware. So in the fall of 2019 - we built the Google Hardware Store: a place for discovering helpful tools of a different kind.
Over 3 months, our 2 pop up stores (one in NYC and one in Chicago) - we engaged the local community and hosted a total of 55 events with daily programming with local influencers and creators. We welcomed 80,000 visitors – with an average dwell time in store of 20 minutes. - and got 88 press hits with 38,000 shares, had 97,000 Google Hardware Store views on YouTube, and reached 155M earned social impressions.
In our design - we wanted to build a space combining retail with experiential demos in a way that felt as effortless & human as the products themselves. Our palette was soft vs sharp. Wayfinding signs were hand-painted locally. Custom paint cans in Google Hardware colors and murals decorated the space. In a voice-activated treehouse guests could try smart home demos; in a perfectly-to-scale tiny kitchen, the Google Hub. Hand illustrated ‘project’ cards shared everyday use cases, while people designed wrapping paper with the Pixel Slate and used Google Lens to play music in the ‘unlabeled record store’. To make 1:1 trial more comfortable, we created ‘toolboxes’–beautiful kits with a single product and project cards to be used anywhere in the space. The design reinforced Google’s belief that tech should serve people, not the other way around.
2016 Cannes Lion Titanium Grand Prix 2016 Cannes Lion Media Grand Prix 2016 D&AD Best Integrated Mobile Campaign 2016 One Show’s Best of Show
When REI offered the idea of closing the stores on Black Friday in partnership with Venables Bell & Partners - we knew they were open and ready for an effort that was far bigger than an advertising campaign. #OptOutside became a widespread cultural movement, with 1.4 million people choosing to spend Black Friday outside with REI. The campaign earned 33 straight days of media coverage with 3,423 placements leading to 6.7 billion media impressions.
REI wanted everyone outside on Black Friday - so so they created a custom site helped users find places to head outside, create social objects to pledge participation and invite friends, and see a live feed of images from the trail for inspiration. In addition to this - we created outdoor camping kits consisting of "freeze-dried Thanksgiving leftovers" that we sent to chosen influencers in the hiking and biking communities.
In 2018, YouTube’s annual "Newfront" event was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York. YouTube Brandcast hosted 2.8K+ clients, partners, press and creators at Radio City Music Hall, generating 100+ press articles in major outlets including Adweek, CNN Money, Ad Age and Variety, was rated “most impactful Newfront” by attendees.
Susan Wojcicki and Robert Kyncl delivered the business messaging up front, allowing the second half of the show to culminate in a full-on party and spectacle. Camila Cabello brought the heat performing her single "Havana" and superstar Ariana Grande closed the night with a surprise 3-song set. Speakers included YouTube phenom Tyler Oakley and the Daily Show's Trevor Noah; top choreographers Jaja Vankova, Dytto, Lia Kim and Matt Steffania collaborated in dance; while Nerdist's Spidey Life, Rudy Mancuso, OK GO and Postmodern Jukebox took guests down a YouTube "rabbit hole" musical medley.
The presentation was followed by a full take-over of Rockefeller Center Plaza for all guests and VIPs in attendance.
Role: Creative Producer & Artist Relations w/ Sparks, Level 2
A.I. & Machine Learning is changing the world of music and the way that music is being made, yet most musicians are inherently reticent of this emerging technology. In order to open this dialogue - Google A.I. partnered with the legendary French electronic duo Justice to fine-tune Google’s research and product development with the artist in mind.
More specifically, Google AI’s “Project Magenta” is an open-source research project started by Google AI that uses TensorFlow technology to enhance music production. Magenta developed NSynth (Neural Synthesizer), a machine learning algorithm that uses a deep neural network to learn the characteristics of sounds, and then create a completely new sound based on these characteristics. Still in its prototype phase - we created custom-made, experimental synthesizer for Justice, powered by NSynth and loaded the instrument can be loaded with over 100,000 new sounds generated by NSynth using the characteristics of the band’s favorite instruments, vocal samples, and found sounds.
These ongoing experiments lead to additional YouTube marketing support for Justice and promotion for their new album ‘Women Worldwide’. The partnership culminated with a rare live-streamed performance by Justice - pushed to their YT channel from Google I/O in conjunction with the live debut of their latest single.
For YouTube - we created brand activation and artist hub that took place over 3 days during SXSW 2016. In the center of downtown Austin at the historic Coppertank - this consumer meets industry event central aim was to show investment in and appreciation for artists' successes on the platform.
We promoted YouTube Music's newly launched app through an interactive data viz display and hosted (18) live performances with a wide range of talented musicians, both newly discovered and well established, including Future and Jamie XX.
Next door, we debuted the well received Artist Hub, honoring SXSW artists with luxury services and a private place to relax.