Walking by 110 High Street’s glass lobby in downtown Boston, even the most hurried passersby can’t help but notice the lobby’s 84-foot that blurs the line between the interior and exterior. Wrapping around the office building’s front entrance and seamlessly through the inside of the glass lobby, custom LED screens form the Boston Media Band, which reacts to bystanders in three digital art modes unique to the city and its residents. Breaking the barrier between the inside and out, the responsive digital art cements a unique identity for the building as a visually appealing downtown fixture with an unmatched tenant experience.

To see the Boston Media Band in action, watch the video below:

Turning A Glass Lobby Into an Interactive Experience

ESI Design was tasked with developing the design to announce the properties new entrance to the neighborhood. The design used experience design to make the glass lobby and adjacent street feel like a single, connected space. The resulting interactive installation not only raises the building’s street presence, but it puts a personable and dynamic twist on traditional corporate real estate design.

Customizing Digital Media for Boston’s Corporate Real Estate Properties

The Boston Media Band has been recognized with a 2020 Global Digital Signage Award and a 2019 GOOD DESIGN award, earning kudos for the bespoke display surface’s ability to captivate both indoor and outdoor audiences in an immersive experience unique to Boston.

When the Boston Media Band is in Silhouette Mode, a highly realistic set of characters that behave just like real people move about the display and react to the presence of people in the lobby. There are additional subsets of this Silhouette mode allows the building management to tailor the installation for specialized events. The media band’s colors and messaging can be customized to holidays and events, such as Valentines Day, Boston Marathon, The Fourth of July, Saint Patrick’s Day and the winter season. Silhouette Mode was also designed with team-specific imagery for the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins to celebrate Boston’s fierce sporting culture and any planned home games in Boston.

In Bay Mode, animated schools of fish flow across a digital waterscape with the possible jellyfish, seal or whale also making a surprise appearance. Immersing visitors in a kelp forest populated by local marine life, these illustrations are inspired by the actual species found in the Charles River and the Massachusetts Bay, highlighting the building’s connection to the historic harbor nearby. As the dynamic waterscape’s lighting shifts throughout the day, the Boston Media Band features three different aquatic environments.

Building ID/Tenant Message Mode provides a practical function for tenants at the now fully leased office building following the renovation of the glass lobby and exterior. Serving as a platform for custom direct-to-consumer messaging, the media band is a creative, valuable asset to tenants of the 28-story structure with sweeping waterfront views.

How does the installation react to people?

Two types of motion sensors work together allowing the media band adapt and respond to movement of people at various distances from the screen. One type monitors traffic through the space at a distance to determine the pace of the media, while a more intimate more proximal zone allows users to directly interact with the characters in the media. This combination of interactive and reactive elements create a unique experience to keep users engaged.

Are you interested in using experience design to establish a powerful street presence?

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