The "HondaTrope" Technology Installation Launched at 2013 Sydney Festival.

SYDNEY – Jan 9, 2013: Honda Australia this week launched a first-of-its-kind technology installation at the Sydney Festival.

Positioned in the heart of the Honda Festival Garden in Hyde Park, the HondaTrope is a device that creates a new world through the illusion of a digital environment overlaid onto a real environment. The name HondaTrope is based on the concept of anthropotropism, the principle that technologies work better when they respect the nature of the human body and mind.

Honda Australia Director and General Manager of Sales and Marketing, Mr. Stephen Collins said the installation is an exciting addition to the Honda Festival Garden. “The HondaTrope is an innovative and creative installation that pushes the boundaries of engineering and technology and really demonstrates the power of clever thinking. The partnership with Honda and the Sydney Festival has resulted in creating a world-first experience that reflects what the festival is all about - creativity, art, and collaboration – but most of all, having fun.”

The aim of Honda’s installation is to provide a fun experience to festival attendees and guests of the Honda Festival Garden by evoking emotions akin to a children’s playground or fairground attraction, with a digital twist.

The concept centres on a bespoke spinning cup, custom engineered from the ground up. . Surrounded by 18 vertical LED light poles, festival patrons sit inside the cup and begin to spin around. Once they reach an optimal speed, the lights slowly reveal a hidden garden world seen only by those in the HondaTrope. With seating for three, the cup is designed to enable festival patrons to share the joyful experience.

The installation was created and developed in conjunction with Honda’s digital agency, DT, and brought together by brand experience agency, Play Communication.

“We wanted to devise an installation that served to give a joyful and surprising ‘here and now’ experience at the Honda Festival Garden, keeping in close alignment with Honda’s brand principles,” says Brett de Niese, Senior Account Director at DT.

The HondaTrope will be located in the Honda Festival Garden in Hyde Park and is free to ride for all Honda Festival Garden patrons. Entry to the Honda Festival Garden is also free.

The Sydney Festival is on from Monday, 5 January to Sunday, 27 January in various locations across the city.