Michelob ULTRA created a portal into another dimension.

The brand gave John McEnroe the experience of playing real-life tennis against a virtual version of himself on the other side of the court.

This physical-virtual portal consisted of 3 key technologies that had never been put together before, each of which was groundbreaking on its own: a particle-mist-based projection screen, Unreal MetaHuman tech, and an intricate robotic return system. Michelob ULTRA seamlessly synchronized these pieces to work together in real time.

This first-of-its-kind portal can reimagine the ways in which we play, learn, and interact. It’s innovation with truly world-changing potential.

In just 3 months, Michelob ULTRA created a portal between the physical and virtual worlds.

Our physical-virtual portal drew inspiration from both real-life and digital forms of entertainment; we combined old theater techniques (like Harry Houdini’s mastery of illusion) with the immersiveness of computer games, blurring worlds on a specially curated tennis court.

Bringing this first-of-its-kind tech to life required a mastery of moving parts and personnel, all in an extremely tight timeframe. Within 3 months, we synchronized Unreal Human metatech, particle-mist-based projection, and a robotic tennis ball-return system to work together in real time.

The Unreal Human metatech animated John McEnroe’s avatar, which shot tennis balls through the particle-mist-based project screen using the robotic tennis ball-return system.

This symphony of groundbreaking tech created an experience that was as aesthetically gripping as it was mind-blowing.

We created the world’s first tennis match to feature a human vs. a virtual player. John McEnroe played virtual versions of himself from the past.

We body-scanned John to create a high-resolution 3D mesh and texture dataset, which formed the foundation of his avatar. Then, we motion-captured him playing tennis, comprising hundreds of individual elements; this enabled us to authentically translate his specific body gestures to an avatar that could be controlled without pre-programmed moves. We re-aged the body scan and motion capture data over different eras from 1979 to 1992 to mirror his appearance and play over time.

We developed the avatar game system in Unreal Engine so John’s avatar could respond in real time to his physical game play. When John sent the ball over the net, the avatar returned shots to him via a robotic ball launcher.

A complicated production for a simply brilliant idea.

November 2021: We started developing the underlying production plan.

December 2021: For research-and-development, we reached out to robotics companies and video game developers to understand the ins and outs of the tech we’d need to build to pull off this innovation.

January 2022: We finalized our production partnership and plan of action.

February 2022–April 2022: This was the three-month sprint to bring everything to life.

We built a tennis court that could house a real-life player on one end and the underlying tech to create a responsive avatar on the other.

We tested and developed our particle-mist-based projection screen. It allowed John to hit a tennis ball over center court and see his avatar on the other side.

We brought John into a studio to capture his movements and style of play for the design of his avatar.

We developed the avatars and shot the half-real, half-virtual tennis match.

The magic of McEnroe vs. McEnroe was taking 3 groundbreaking pieces of technology, which had never been used together before, and synchronizing them to work together in real time:

Particle-Mist-Based Projection Screen

John hit each ball through this mist toward his avatar opponent, who was projected onto the mist. This projection tech had never been used like this before.

Unreal MetaHuman Technology

This allowed us to develop and animate John McEnroe’s avatars, using data and footage from our motion-capture shoot with him.

Robotic Return System

This was the mechanism by which John McEnroe’s avatar hit tennis balls back to him. Each time John hit the ball over the net, we tracked the ball’s movement via AI, and the robotic system physically launched the balls back to him.

McEnroe vs. McEnroe took technology and entertainment beyond the boundaries of our imagination. The tech, sports, pop culture, and advertising worlds captured it best:

“Reinventing Sports Entertainment.” –Yahoo! Entertainment

“Unlike Anything That’s Been Done Before.” –USA Today

“Artificial intelligence pits a real legend against himself” –Engadget

”Simply Amazing” –ESPN

But McEnroe vs. McEnroe’s fingerprints will extend far beyond press coverage and brand campaigns.

Now, we have the technology to immerse people in realities they’d never have otherwise experienced, giving them the physical stimuli of that world. Sure, you could use a virtual-reality headset to imagine outer space. But now you can feel, hear, see, and touch outer space right in front of you.

This portal between the real and virtual worlds has the potential to revolutionize an endless number of experiences: the ways in which we consume entertainment, exercise, educate our children, travel, interact with each other, and even more.