Destiny’s Ride – Blood Cancer (3D Audio Experience)

The “Destiny’s Ride” project shows how 3D audio can be used in marketing to convey emotions and get the message across even more intensively. It represents an innovative and effective method to attract the attention of the target group and to motivate people to take an important action, such as registering as a stem cell don:in. So 3D audio can be more than marketing hype, it can also solve real problems

Why was 3D audio used here?

The “Destiny’s Ride” project was commissioned by the German Bone Marrow Donor Center (DKMS) to motivate people to register as potential stem cell donors:in. The main goal was to raise awareness of blood cancer and to convey the emotional experiences of blood cancer patients, from diagnosis to the fight against cancer to salvation through a matching stem cell donation.

The question was how to use sound to tell stories that carry you away, but also let you leave with a positive feeling. The audience should be won over as donors and be able to develop empathy, why blood cancer concerns us all.

How were the challenges solved?

One challenge was to convey these emotions not visually, but purely auditorily. This is where 3D audio came in, to give visitors the feeling that the patients are standing right next to them and telling their stories. To achieve this, the 3D audio tricks had to be used in the recording and post-production, which took over the entire VR sound.

Martin also conducted the story and interviews with the patients. With his team of writers, he developed stories, with different narrative threads, such as:

• Sound collages to slowly get the users used to the 3D technology.
• Flashback scenes in which we took over the first-person perspective of the patients.
• Observer-roles, which should show the history of the affected persons.

Consultation ensured that the 3D audio experience could be used in a meaningful way from start to finish

3 Stories

A total of 3 stories were mapped. The reason for this is to be able to address different target groups even more specifically, depending on the event.

• Anja the windsurfer: Fehmarn Surf Festival
• Felix, the gamer: Gamescon
• Mickela, the singer: music festivals like Wacken

Each listener could choose one of the three stories, while a maximum of four people could fit into the container. This meant that the stories all had to be exactly the same length, which was not at all easy with the different immersive sounds – but possible.

Vibration

To make the sound even more palpable and further enhance the experience of the roller coaster ride of emotions, we relied on vibration vests. These “strap-on subwoofers” converted the sound into haptics in real time. This allowed visitors to not only hear, but also feel what the blood cancer patients were going through.

The vibrations of the vests synchronized with the 3D audio content, adding an even more intense and immersive dimension to the entire experience. It was as if you could really resonate with the emotions of the patient:s, and that fit perfectly with the original theme of a “roller coaster ride of emotions.”

What is the result?

The result was impressive. At the premiere of the project at a surf festival on Fehmarn, almost 500 people registered as bone marrow donors, according to DKMS. The combination of emotional stories, visuals and the immersive 3D audio experience made it possible to convey the topic of blood cancer and the importance of stem cell donation in an immersive and engaging way.