January 15, 2014

Nissan’s website wants you to use ‘Jedi Force’ to explore the Juke

by Sayan Chakravarty

If you are one those hardcore fans of the ‘Star Wars’ who eats sleeps and breathes by the franchise, then this might be the coolest thing you have ever come across over the internet! A website recreates the magic from the galaxy far, far away to help you recognize the Jedi force that resides in you, and you don’t need master Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi for that. Puzzled? Nissan has collaborated with the Star Wars franchise to build a website promoting the ‘Juke’. The promotional campaign on the site has an awesome feature named ‘The Force Simulator’ which recognizes hand gestures and movements of a light source using a web camera to help you discover the Juke with a 360 degree view of the car. This is a first for any automaker, or for that matter any corporation, to use recognition software on web to promote their product.

The website by Nissan is for Japan and most of the instructions are in Japanese, but the process is fairly intuitive and anyone can easily land on the page with the Force Simulator (Google Translator won’t work). On the main page, the website plays a short film with the Darth Vader in it. The website offers two separate gesture control options; you can either use hand gestures or use a light source. A crimson colored Juke appears along with a Star Trooper standing alongside. Like discipline needed to master the Jedi forces, you might need a little while to get a hang of the controls but nevertheless, it is kickass. Click on the link below and have a go at it!