Use your webcam to experience the Enterprise like never before

London: May 5th 2009 – To promote the international release of STAR TREK on May 8th, Paramount Pictures International (PPI) is today launching 'Experience The Enterprise'; a groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) application placing a 3D interactive version of the Starship Enterprise in the palm of your hand.

Visitors to http://www.experience-the-enterprise.com are given the opportunity to take an extensive five minute tour of the Enterprise, including testing the ship’s weapons systems, impulse engines and warp drive. ‘Experience The Enterprise’ is built using augmented reality (AR) technology, which combines real world and computer-generated data to bring a 3D interactive version of the Starship Enterprise to life, on your desktop or in the palm of your hand.

Anybody with a webcam can take a tour of the Enterprise using the kind of futuristic technology that sits at the heart of perhaps the most popular science-fiction franchise of all time. Once underway, you are given a ‘cadet holo-simulation’ by Starfleet, the Academy in which new recruits Kirk, Spock and McCoy are enrolled at the start of the new film.

This is the first time AR has been used to bring a major film release to life in this way. The application itself was constructed using the original 3D model of the Enterprise appearing in the film, as well as featuring an array of special effects direct from the production. 

The release version actually uses the DVD case. This is what’s great about this technology – it can be made to recognise pretty much any image, whether it’s printed in a magazine, on a DVD, or even displayed on a mobile phone screen.

The site achieved 50,000 web visitors in 1 week, with 3.5 minutes average experience time, and 48,000 YouTube viewers.

This project was developed for PPI by one of Total Immersion's development partners in the States. If you'd like us to do the same for you then please get in touch.