Leviathan and Luci Creative Partnership Heightens Interactive and Educational Aspects of PG&E's Zero Net Energy Home

CHICAGO and STOCKTON, Calif., June 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) recently opened its new regional office in Stockton, California, featuring a full-sized Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Home display. Through a combination of maximizing energy efficiency and onsite renewable energy generation, ZNE homes produce as much energy as they use over the course of a year. With the state's ambitious goals for all new residential and commercial construction to be ZNE by 2020 and 2030, respectively, PG&E officials engaged two innovative companies – Leviathan and Luci Creative, both based in the Chicago area – to design and implement advanced interactive aspects that take the pioneering ZNE Home's educational aspects to new heights. By allowing visitors to see exactly how it all works together, PG&E reports that its first-of-its-kind ZNE Home is already providing tremendous value in engaging and educating the public.

With Luci Creative leading the strategy and design, specialized creative agency Leviathan partnered to finesse the experience's communications design, and to bring it all to life. "We immediately saw the educational, energy conservation aspect of this exhibit as a great chance to align ourselves with the ZNE curriculum and California's long-term energy goals," began Jason White, Leviathan's executive creative director. "Teaming up with Luci Creative and our other project partners on this endeavor was an opportunity to contribute our efforts to an important cause while innovating new interactive territory."

The primary interactive components of this design project are: The Virtual Tour, an iPad-based augmented reality experience that, by using iBeacons and location tracking, automatically presents relevant ZNE content throughout every room; the Digital Dashboard, an 84" high-resolution touchscreen that compares the comprehensive results and benefits of ZNE conservation methods to those of a typical home built in 2005; and full system design and engineering, including integrated content management and hardware integration.

With multiple levels of navigation in both the Digital Dashboard and Virtual Tour, a clear user experience is essential to visitors understanding what they're seeing on-screen and how to access such a variety of information. The 360-degree panoramic walkthrough footage was created and rendered with multiple passes featuring varied light maps, to address different seasons. With the Virtual Tour accessing iBeacons and using compass navigation in real-time, the room views automatically update and present footage and information, drawing on the custom Content Management System Leviathan delivered, which also has the benefit of allowing PG&E to easily update content over time.

"We've always focused on creating rich content for physical environments," said Leviathan's president Chad Hutson. "PG&E's Zero Net Energy Home is a powerful demonstration that translates complex and diverse interactivity into experiences that are highly engaging and educational for people of all ages."

Additional project partners include architects SmithgroupJJR, A/V integrators Electrosonic, Marmoset for music, Dog & Pony Studios for audio, exhibit fabrication by Ravenswood Studios, construction by Roebbelen Contracting and energy consultant Carrie Brown, Ph.D., at Resource Refocus.

The PG&E Zero Net Energy Home is documented in a new case study video from Leviathan: https://vimeo.com/168993678. Additional project details, development artworks and project credits appear on Leviathan's website at http://www.lvthn.com.

About Leviathan
Leviathan (http://www.lvthn.com) is a specialized creative agency that crafts enduring experiences through the seamless integration of premium content, innovative interactivity and physical environments. Firmly rooted in conceptual design and filmmaking since its inception in 2010, Leviathan uses emerging technologies to engage audiences and enhance emotional response for brands and entertainers worldwide.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Project imagery available here: http://darnellworks.com/lvthn/pge.htm

SOURCE Leviathan Design LLC