Bionicle - Out of the Box concept?

[Rooster Nui]

So, this was something I discovered a while ago and something that I happened to have shared to the BZPower Facebook group, but not here for some reason.  

 

It appears to be something similar to the LEGO Dimensions toypad, but much larger in size. I'd like to ask, what are your thoughts on this mysterious thing? Have you seen the video before? Do you know any other information about it?

 

I personally think it's very cool, but something I wouldn't want to distribute if I were a part of the management staff at The LEGO Group. It seems to be something that would be expensive to deliver and distribute, especially on the broad scale that standard LEGO set displays have. In the end, however, I'm glad to see a demonstration of it.

 

 

[Iruini Nuva]

I remember seeing that post. Maybe it was an early experiment of the AR tech they use in Lego stores now (although this seems to work via RFID/NFC instead of optically)? Either way, probably intended more as a promotional tool (tours, etc.) rather than something for consumers.

 

Would be lots of fun to mess with, though.

[aldero]

This certainly is an interesting find. Considering the sheer size and capabilities of this system, I would only imagine it as being a toypad that you would occasionally see at a Toys R Us if Bionicle is really popular at the time. Interesting nevertheless.

[Nescent]

From the description of the video:

 

 

 

LEGO had the wish to visualize the content of their boxes in a new and innovative way. In the retail stores is it a challenge to present the good LEGO experience to the children. Presentation videos may give inspiration but it is without interacting with the children. This resulted in a cooperation with CAVI and Alexandra Institute which started in 2006 with a design workshop that ended up with the concept LEGO out of the Box: When a box with a LEGO Bionicle figure is placed on the glass plate, a camera reads a unique graphical pattern (Reactivision technology) . Hereby the model’s identity and location is recognized and a 3D Bionicle model is shown on a screen in a true Bionicle universe. If the box is moved, the Bionicle figure will walk or fly along with the movement. If more boxes are moved close to each other the Bionicle figures will interact – if they are a pair, they will connect, if they are enemies they will fight. The computer generated animations are based on the 3D models which LEGO uses in the marketing and promotion of the products. CAVI had a contact with the shopping mall, Salling, located in Aarhus, Denmark, where the project was set up in six weeks around spring 2008. The developed prototype and concept is the direct foundation for a similar system that LEGO uses in 67 LEGO brand stores worldwide.

 

So, this was intended to be used in stores as a way for customers to interact with the sets, but was never moved out of the prototype stage.

[Aanchir]

From the description of the video:

 

 

 

LEGO had the wish to visualize the content of their boxes in a new and innovative way. In the retail stores is it a challenge to present the good LEGO experience to the children. Presentation videos may give inspiration but it is without interacting with the children. This resulted in a cooperation with CAVI and Alexandra Institute which started in 2006 with a design workshop that ended up with the concept LEGO out of the Box: When a box with a LEGO Bionicle figure is placed on the glass plate, a camera reads a unique graphical pattern (Reactivision technology) . Hereby the model’s identity and location is recognized and a 3D Bionicle model is shown on a screen in a true Bionicle universe. If the box is moved, the Bionicle figure will walk or fly along with the movement. If more boxes are moved close to each other the Bionicle figures will interact – if they are a pair, they will connect, if they are enemies they will fight. The computer generated animations are based on the 3D models which LEGO uses in the marketing and promotion of the products. CAVI had a contact with the shopping mall, Salling, located in Aarhus, Denmark, where the project was set up in six weeks around spring 2008. The developed prototype and concept is the direct foundation for a similar system that LEGO uses in 67 LEGO brand stores worldwide.

 

So, this was intended to be used in stores as a way for customers to interact with the sets, but was never moved out of the prototype stage.

Technically, it was, but not for Bionicle. As it says, this prototype became the foundation for the "Digital Box" system that LEGO uses in many of their stores, where there's a screen with a camera that you can hold the box up to to see the 3D set built and animated. I've used this in the past, and it's very neat (but generally only works with certain sets, especially larger ones like castles, pirate ships, and police stations). Now LEGO even has a "3D Catalogue" app for smartphones in some countries that lets you scan a LEGO catalog with your smartphone's camera for a similar 3D animated effect.

 

See this video for an example.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Aanchir

[Rooster Nui]

That's very interesting, Aanchir. So this Bionicle-Box was actually a prototype for the kiosks we've seen in recent years? Cool! It's nice knowing something Bionicle related contributed greatly to that. 

 

I read the entire description beforehand, but didn't take it in effectively; a mistake I shouldn't have made. 

 

Oh, and as Nescent pointed out, we've heard hardly anything of this due to it only having been in its prototype stages, I guess. A bit of a shame, but LEGO has their reasons.

[Kopekemaster]

Whoa, this is really cool. Even though I don't have any of the systems it's on, it would be cool if they incorporated Bionicle into LEGO Dimensions at some point. (Though I'm not entirely sure how they'd do that given the size difference.)

So, did they never end up using this with Bionicle? Either way, it's cool that they used it for other sets.

[Tahu3.0]

That looks awesome if it happened.

[Rooster Nui]

That looks awesome if it happened.

Yes, it happened, but just as a prototype and not as a widespread collective of finalized machines. It did, however, as mentioned earlier by Aanchir, become the foundation of LEGO's Digital Box system. 

[Tahu3.0]

 

That looks awesome if it happened.

Yes, it happened, but just as a prototype and not as a widespread collective of finalized machines. It did, however, as mentioned earlier by Aanchir, become the foundation of LEGO's Digital Box system. 

 

At least Bionicle did it first.

[MrSciFiGuy]

I love the idea, at the Lego store I got to they have an AR setup where you scan the box and it digitally builds it to scale on the screen showing it on your hands. 

[-Windrider-]

So, this was something I discovered a while ago and something that I happened to have shared to the BZPower Facebook group, but not here for some reason. 

 

I think the group you're referring to may be something separate from our site's official page, so I think in the future I'd recommend hitting us up there as well. I've gone ahead and shared this, giving you credit, of course. It's definitely an interesting find.

[Rooster Nui]

 

So, this was something I discovered a while ago and something that I happened to have shared to the BZPower Facebook group, but not here for some reason. 

 

I think the group you're referring to may be something separate from our site's official page, so I think in the future I'd recommend hitting us up there as well. I've gone ahead and shared this, giving you credit, of course. It's definitely an interesting find.

 

Yeah, I knew that. Though I was never sure if posting to the official page was acceptable. Thanks!

[masterchirox580]

Would have been cool to see this. I would have loved this as a kid. Could of resulted in some kind of battle system.