Digitas Announces Partnership Program First With New York University's Movement Lab To Co-Create 3D Motion Capture Brand Experiences

NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Digitas, a digitally-led, integrated brand agency, today announced a partnership program with New York University's Movement Lab, a world-renowned motion capture studio and research group dedicated to the analysis and animation of all forms of human movement. The collaboration marks the launch of a Partnership Program in which Digitas Labs, a global, tech-inspired incubator within the agency, will team up with tech start-ups and educational institutions to develop digital innovations.

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The NYU Movement Lab will create a state-of-the-art 3D motion capture lab in the Digitas New York office, allowing the agency unprecedented access to leading-edge technologies. Chris Bregler, the Director of the NYU Movement Lab, will design the new facility. Bregler is a pioneer in the field of motion capture and has worked with the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, Google, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force, among others. In addition, his research and commercial projects have led to award-winning interactive features in sports analysis, large-scale interactive motion game experiences, and special effects systems used in Hollywood productions. This is NYU Movement Lab's first collaborative relationship with an integrated brand agency. The space is being offered to the NYU Movement Lab cost-free.

Motion Capture and the Content Revolution
"There's a revolution happening in content right now," states Colin Kinsella, CEO, Digitas North America. "We're evolving a new visual language around movement and what can be explored and navigated. The ability to incubate new, content-rich brand-related projects using 3D motion capture technology opens up a whole new lane of innovation that has, until now, only scratched the surface. We're thrilled to collaborate with the NYU Movement Lab, and having them on premises is an incredible opportunity for our teams."

Potential marketing applications for 3D motion capture technology include the creation of high-quality live-action experiences for sports and entertainment fans; new types of "deep content" Web search experiences; and in-store body-language kiosk applications.

"This is a very exciting opportunity for us," states Chris Bregler. "As a top, digitally-led global agency, Digitas will allow the NYU Movement Lab to shine a bright light on motion-capture technology and its potential to enrich consumer experiences. And collocation means that our respective teams can brainstorm new ideas and directions in the moment."

Digitas Labs: Global Industry Innovator
In 2012 Digitas formalized Digitas Labs, a global initiative within the agency dedicated to exploring new and emerging technologies. The Digitas Labs global teams developed more than 100 prototypes and technology innovations worldwide in 2012, and received top honors from the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange in their "Physical Computing and Robotics" category for its work on the Duracell Virtual Stadium. In France, Digitas Labs Paris developed AnyTouch, a prototype that can turn any object, no matter its size or surface, into an interactive touchpad by using special software, a 3D camera and sensors. In addition, in 2012 Digitas Labs Paris joined the Paris Region Innovation Lab, giving the agency first-look access at the next generation of technology solutions for its clients.

Digitas Labs Innovation Rooms, physical spaces for clients and teams to test interactive experiences first-hand, are currently active in New York, London, and Paris, and additional rooms are slated to open in Boston, Chicago, and San Jose, Costa Rica in early 2013.  Innovation rooms are equipped with emerging technologies, thereby facilitating rapid deployment of brand-specific prototypes that bring digital products to life.

About Digitas
Digitas, a digitally-led, integrated global brand agency, builds brands for some of the foremost companies in the world. In 2012 Digitas was named OMMA Magazine's Agency of the Year and The Drum's London Integrated Agency of the Year. Digitas was also the winner of nine Cannes Lions in 2012, The agency also counts Agency of the Year honors from the Festival of Media, BtoB Magazine, and Les Agences de l'Annee, France, and has been named to the Advertising Age Digital A-List among its many awards.

Digitas also operates the brand content platform, The Third Act:, producers of first and most well renowned event on digital content, The NewFront and Prodigious Worldwide, the world's only standalone, global digital productions company.

With sister agencies Starcom MediaVest, ZenithOptimedia, Denuo and Razorfish, Digitas is a member of Publicis Groupe's VivaKi—a global digital knowledge and resource center that leverages the combined scale of the autonomous operations of its members to develop new services, new tools, and new partnerships.

Publicis Groupe [listed on the Euronext Paris Exchange – FR0000130577 – and part of the CAC 40 index] is the world's third largest communications group. With activities spanning 104 countries on five continents, Publicis Groupe offers local and international clients a complete range of advertising services. Web site: www.publicisgroupe.com

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About The NYU Movement Lab
The NYU Movement Lab is a motion capture studio and research group dedicated to the analysis and animation of all forms of human movement. It is housed at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' Interactive Telecommunications Program. Many projects are at the boundary between computer science, dance, performance art, animation, medical research, and other uses of motion capture technology. The NYU Movement Lab's many activities include projects with the National Science Foundation, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Sloan Foundation, The New York Times, Google, and Microsoft, and include a first of its kind analysis of 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Dana Vollmer, uncovering the signature pitch of NY Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, and capturing the gestures of acclaimed New York Philharmonic Conductor Alan Gilbert. It has also developed a method to identify and compare the body language of different speakers. Titled "GreenDot," the project employs motion capture, pattern recognition, and "Intrinsic Biometrics" techniques.

SOURCE Digitas