Stranger Things 4

Stranger Things 4

On May 26 and 27, 2022 a dangerous, radioactive rift opened up at LA Live. Hawkins National Laboratory arrived to keep the scene under control. They targeted brave recruits, giving them a chance to “prove their power” at closing the rift and leaving with merch, Xbox Game Passes, Netflix gift-cards, and even the exclusive console. Thousands of fans and passersby snapped pics and purchased souvenirs, and the immersive experience was covered by various media outlets and channels.

Client: Netflix
Website: netflix.com
Date: May 26, 2022
Services: Creative Technology

The Project

Cognition was tasked with designing and executing the Los Angeles Stranger Things experience as part of the global Season 4 awareness campaign. Our approach: Create a unique interactive experience to allow guests to discover their unique power and close a massive rift growing in downtown Los Angeles just like the character “Eleven” from Stranger Things – all for the chance to win a custom Stranger Things-themed Xbox Series S. 

The Cognition Team built an interactive gestural experience that was designed to allow participants the ability to test their powers against the Rift similar to the character Eleven in Stranger Things. The machine would monitor the “power output” generated by guests by sensing the pose that guests made, which would ultimately generate a visual result. The Cognition software development team created a custom application that would pre-program the console inventory into the backend. This would dictate which guest had extreme, medium, and normal power by a selection, or by random. The guests who were randomly selected to have extreme powers were eligible to win a brand-new Microsoft xBox console