The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro have been over for four months.
You probably thought the feel-good, behind-the-scenes athlete stories that go hand-and-hand with Olympics coverage are also behind you.
Nope, we have one more for you.
First, think about the stark geographic differences between Brazil’s Rio and Canada.
The 312 athletes from Canada competing in another hemisphere in Rio must have felt a world away from friends and family back home. That’s where creative technology studio wonderMakr came in, teaming with Canadian Tire to deliver a literal door from Rio to Canada.
“Red Door to Rio” consisted of two red doors built around 84-inch SunBrite TV Pro Series displays. One door and display sat in the Canada House in Rio’s Olympic Village while another was moved around to Canadian Tire locations in the Great White North.
The concept was pretty simple: Canadian athlete steps in front of a red door in Rio, the door opens and he or she is surprised to see their grandma, best friend or significant other on live video from a Canadian Tire back home.
There is, after all, an expectation especially among young consumers (count Olympic athletes in that category) to always to be able to connect with whoever from wherever. The challenge is to make that connectivity as seamless as possible.
Photos of athletes, family and friends experiencing Red Door to Rio
“I think the idea that you should be able to talk with anyone in the world at any time in real-time via your smartphone definitely plays into the appeal of this installation,” says Mark Stewart, president and chief innovation officer for wonderMakr.
The set up behind the doors were very simple. Besides the SunBriteTV display, there was a camera and a microphone.
