Las Vegas, January 5, 2022. At the high-tech trade show CES in Las Vegas, the all-electric BMW iX model is staged with an oversized ambient media installation. Berlin-based agency Graft Brandlab is responsible for mediatecture and cinematic dramaturgy on behalf of lead agency THE GAME for BMW Group.

It took the internet by storm: the world’s first shade-changing showcar, the BMW iX Flow. Behind it, a media facade with E Ink color -changing film.. Slowly, black-and-white gradients on the car and the wall begin to dynamically merge into one. The car in sleep mode, then the impression of driving through a tunnel. A play of light, shadow and movement. The car as an intelligent-emotional vehicle, harmoniously united with its surroundings.

To bring the dynamic soul of the all-electric iX model to life, Graft Brandlab's media artists created a choreography of vividly evocative animations that play on both the 30-meter-wide, eight-meter-high media facade and on the skin of the BMW iX Flow. The visuals are based on the current BMW signature pattern. The animation follows a dramaturgy that visualizes different states of the car in different virtual landscapes, from a sleep and dream phase to high-energy driving performance.

Kindle reader as a template: ambient media technology with sustainability factor

An electronic color-changing film (e-paper) from E Ink, which is used e.g. in Kindle readers, is used for the first time to create this mediatecture artwork. The film creates dramatic visual effects while requiring a minimum of energy. The power is needed purely for the color change, not for the static color state.

The flowing change of color is made possible by a specially developed body wrap precisely oriented to the contours of BMW's all-electric Sports Activity Vehicle. Stimulated by electrical impulses, the electrophoretic technology brings different color pigments to the surface in each case, through which the body surface takes on the desired shade.

Graft Brandlab is an experienced pioneer in the architectural use of ePaper

Already in 2017, Prof. Nik Hafermaas, Managing Partner I Creation of Graft Brandlab, used color-changing films from E Ink in architectural projects. With his artist platform ueberall.us, Nik created what was then the world's first application on an architectural scale: DAZZLE - a dynamic yet low-energy media facade at San Diego International Airport. The Artpiece project won multiple awards.

"We are excited to add another new artwork to our vision of environmentally sustainable mediatecture, especially in a place like Las Vegas, which is synonymous with gratuitous energy consumption" says Prof. Nik Hafermaas, Managing Partner I Creation of Graft Brandlab.

Rico Zocher, Managing Partner I Business of Graft Brandlab, adds:

"The lead agency THE GAME has created an experience pavilion that makes it possible to experience electric automobility in all its facets. We thank THE GAME for the good collaboration and are happy that we could contribute to sustainable spatial communication with our expertise in mediatecture and art."

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