Project overview:

Lonely Planet is an iconic brand with great digital assets (content on their website and tv shows) and physical assets (their books). When we found out they were opening a retail store at the airport we talked to them about creating a proof of concept for how Surface could work in a Lonely Planet store.

The idea is that every book is an object that Surface understands. The app allows shoppers to place a book on the table and interact with content from that book, along with additional video content.

To take the idea further we created passport cards. Shoppers can take a passport from the front counter, place it on the table, and then drag content from the books onto their passport. Each card has a unique ID that can be entered at a website to retrieve content later.

In addition to creating a compelling and useful experience for consumers, the application allows Lonely Planet to begin to monitor customer movement both in store and online.

An easy step by step guide helps users get familiar with the application

Once a book is placed on the table all the relevant info appears to help one plan their trip

The application in action

Several users can use the application and play at once