The main idea of this project was to re-think the media consumption of tomorrow within a family home, for the benefit of the user experience. Considering the couch as the family’s nerve of its media use, we equipped it with multiple connected devices and objects in order to create the very best personalized service a consumer could ask for. We also focused on the importance to incorporate these smart objects the simplest and more natural way possible. Therefore, the concept is not about the connected objects themselves or the simple digital experience, but about how all these centralized elements can make MARTY a couch of “the Internet of things”, with individual and collective data and usage adapted to each person of the family.

After the HMG Makers Day that took place in September 2015, the designers and engineers brought this incredible idea to life after 6 months of production. Marty, the connected couch, was born! Equipped with a dozen of connected objects such as a smart fridge, LED projectors, laser keyboard, two Gear VR, an Amazon Echo, a 3D printer related to the content you’re watching, a music relaxation system, a wireless charger and many other objects, it was ready to change our consumers' life. The challenge ahead was to connect and link all the components into a simple application designed especially for the couch, which allows data collection processed in different dedicated dashboards. That is how the Marty app was created. Yannick Bolloré and Raphaël de Andréis then officially presented it during the Cannes Lions of 2016, on June 22 at the Havas Café.

Since its release in June 2016, the MARTY connected couch generated a hundred press articles, with many interviews and contacts created through social media. More importantly, over 800 persons tested the MARTY experience, allowing us to collect many data on the way people consume media around Marty. Whether it were collaborators, clients, test groups, students, families … every feedback was positive and rich for the proper development of the project.