There is a huge wave breaking in the heart of Seoul, South Korea.
d'strict, a company that designs and produces visual content for out-of-home advertising, created a public media installation that brings the power of the ocean waves into the city.
Everyone who arrives at K-Pop Square in Seoul's Gangnam District is confronted with an unusual scenario.
A giant wave appears to be crashing inside the city's SMTown COEX Artium building. But there's not a single drop of salt water in it.
d'strict developed the world's largest anamorphic illusion using 1,600 square meters of 8K resolution screen.
The media project is 20.1 meters tall and 80.9 meters wide. To bring the spectacular 3D effect to life, Samsung had to manufacture over 31,000 video panels.
When viewed from a certain angle, the rectangular screen gives the impression that the massive wave has volume.
An Anamorphic Illusion
The distorted projection creates the illusion that the water is crashing into the glass, about to break it, and ready to engulf passersby.
"Our goal was to create an overwhelming experience using the beauty and dynamism of waves because they evoke feelings of comfort, which is much needed now," explained Jun Lee, business development director at d'strict.
The realistic "Wave" simulation shows up one minute every hour and literally stops the traffic around the commercial square.
d'strict aims to continue creating user-centered experiences by integrating both contents and digital media technology.
"We have produced a lot of art contents other than advertisements on public media LED screens of various sizes and shapes in office lobbies, shopping malls, hotels, and theme parks," Sean Lee, CEO of d'strict, told SurferToday.
"Property owners with outdoor public media usually make money through advertising, but not always showing advertising content."
"In many cases, various types of art contents are used to create a good ambiance of the space where public media is installed."
"Wave" was the first grand-scale project of its kind, but d'strict has plans to continue producing intellectual property contents for property owners who have public media LED screens.