SONY SHIPHUNT

SONY - SHIPHUNT

Sony and Intel approach us to help promote the new line of Sony VAIO laptops powered by Intel Processors, a parity product in a commoditized category. Our goal was to prove that with the right tools, amazing things are possible. We wanted to demonstrate that with this technology we had the power to change the lives of those using it.

We challenged five students to undertake the ultimate science project – discover a lost shipwreck. Working with their mentor, world renowned oceanic archeologist James Delgado, we partnered the team with NOAA and Woods-Hole, using the latest in ocean exploration technology, complimented by our Sony and Intel products. While finding a shipwreck used to take sheer manpower, the modern approach is all about raw computing power. 

At the same time, we used the project to cast light on an under-funded education system, with students severely falling behind in STEM education. Saginaw, MI isn't alone in this issue, it's a national crisis. And from this exploration, the team at NOAA was able to assemble a science course curriculum which was distributed back to schools to help boost engagement in STEM programs.

We created a 360 degree experience centered around our hunt for sunken ships in the treacherous shipping lane of Lake Huron’s Shipwreck Alley. Web-films, online games, exploratory websites, digital, social and a documentary special on Current TV provided a multi-faceted way to get involved the adventure. So while our students set forth on their exploration, we brought a piece of the experience to users around the globe in our Oceans of Treasure Facebook game. Eager would-be adventurers navigated the oceans of Google Earth, leveraging the same tools used in our actual exploration, to hunt the sea for sunken treasure. Thousands set sail to search for the grand prize: $1,000,000 in a chest, sunk deep in our digital sea. 

Longform proof of concept: