THE IMAGINARY POSTER: THE FIRST EVER POSTER THAT ONLY KIDS CAN SEE.

How do you show the world the power of a child’s imagination with only a poster? Make it the secret key to unlocking an incredible adventure. Using facial recognition technology, Radio Flyer posters changed their content according to the viewers’ age. Adults see only a Radio Flyer wagon; kids see an endless world of possibility to further inspire their imagination.

The poster served up imaginative Radio Flyer adventures for a child’s eyes only, including animated illustrations of Radio Flyer wagons transformed into vehicles—off-road dinosaur safaris, a race-car chase scene, a submarine underwater adventure and other worldly space adventures. These adventures are based on some of the most popular themes for childhood imaginative play.

Leveraging the iconic shape and build of the classic Radio Flyer wagon, we created a mobile poster unit that uses facial recognition technology to feed customized visuals to the viewer. Our poster, a customized LED screen with an embedded camera, analyzed 27 data points, including someone’s height, face, gender and ethnicity, to serve up personalized content.

When an adult approaches the poster, they see a classic red Radio Flyer wagon. When a child approaches the poster, they see something radically different. Borrowing Radio Flyer’s iconic design elements (the famous shape, color and nostalgic logo), we transformed the legendary toy into four adventurous vehicles straight out of a child’s imagination: Enchanted Pterodactyl Island, Jellyfish Reef Lagoon, Evil Skyscraper Metropolis and Squishy Way Galaxy. With a hyper-real approach, these illustrations were developed in CGI with touches of animation that truly make the visuals come alive. These adventures are based on some of the most popular themes for childhood imaginative play.

For the implementation of our mobile poster unit, actual parts from the iconic wagons were featured to drive home the actual adventure kids would encounter in their Radio Flyer. Elements like the 10-inch white wheels, the polished black handle—all the way down to the nuts and bolts used.

Through these posters and this experience, we inspired children’s limitless imagination. The poster was placed in heavy traffic, outdoor and indoor locations in the city of Chicago: city parks and mass retailers where Radio Flyer is sold.

The first ever Imaginary Poster added value to the brand by reinforcing Radio Flyer’s core beliefs in imaginative play—in a wholly unique and unexpectedly technological way. By demonstrating an imaginative, innovative idea to trigger children’s imaginations, the Imaginary Poster engaged parents and children alike. Ironically, we used technology to turn kids away from technology.

So far, we have already been to 33 million imaginary places. By 2019, we have plans to go to another 20 million places.