Dell Technologies Virtual Reality

Branding, strategy, design, and development of a virtual reality experience for Dell’s Social Impact story.

An immersive brand experience

Background Dell’s Social Impact team hired Handsome to create a virtual reality platform to share their company’s commitment to sustainability at live events and conferences across the world.

The Problem Dell's legacy as an innovative technology company is widely known, but their commitment to recycling and sustainability is often overlooked. Dell needed a way to make a splash at SXSW by creating an immersive experience aimed at changing customer’s perception of their brand.

Services
  • Concept Validation Testing
  • Copywriting & Editing
  • Environmental Design
  • Usability Testing
  • User Interface Design
  • VR Design
  • VR Development

World-First Design

Designing any immersive experience in Virtual Reality requires a “world-first” design approach. Creating an impactful experience in 3D means articulating a compelling story in more than words, it requires that story to come alive with depth, physical motion, experiential design thinking, and timing.

 

Creating the Clearing

Our interactive experience is called “The Clearing.” Set in a beautiful forest, our brand team story-boarded and designed the environment to set a mood for mini-games that illuminate Dell’s recycling and reuse processes.

Storytelling Powered by Unity

Mindful of technology constraints in using the Sony Vive, our team chose Unity Technologies’ realtime 3D engine as the backbone of the experience. Unity allowed our design and technology team to collaboratively place objects, narrative overlays, and additional brand-moments at the right time and in the right place together in the environment itself.

Outcome

“The Clearing” generated 17,000+ on-site attendees (21% increase from 2018) at SXSW 2019, 10 Million social media impressions, and a 57% increase in overall online reach YoY. 

 

“I needed an agency to give me a different perspective, push the boundaries of what’s possible, and ultimately deliver beyond my expectations – that’s exactly what Handsome did.”

 – Sarah Gilliam, Social Impact Manager, Dell

 

Since launch, we’ve updated the experience for global audiences, making it accessible to viewers in Japan, China, Spanish-speaking countries, and more.