VR immersive experience for Netflix
Overview
NAXS STUDIO in collaboration with creative agency ASTAR HUB, created a unique VR immersive experience for Netflix’s Mandarin original series Nowhere Man, combining physical sets with sound and lighting installations.
Category
Immersive Brand Experience
VR Experience
Year
2019
Showcase
2019 Nuit Blanche Taipei
"Nowhere Man" (Chinese: 罪夢者), Netflix’s first Mandarin-language original series released in 2019, is inspired by real-life cases and explores the complexities of the death penalty within Asian societies. The series carries significant strategic importance for Netflix’s expansion in the Mandarin-speaking market.
With its gripping suspense and thriller elements, the story follows protagonist Ding Chang-Quan (played by Joseph Chang) as he enters a mysterious space while awaiting execution and devises a prison break to save his kidnapped son. However, given the series’ intense and thought-provoking narrative, the key challenge for ASTAR HUB and the NAXS STUDIO team was how to break through conventional marketing strategies, capture the attention of Taiwanese audiences, and generate buzz in a highly competitive entertainment landscape.
Solution & Design Concept
To break away from traditional series promotion tactics, ASTAR HUB collaborated with new media art collective NAXS STUDIO to create an unprecedented immersive experience. Leveraging NAXS STUDIO’s extensive expertise in immersive theater, audiovisual installations, and VR content, the team developed an interactive space inspired by the series.
The event transported registered participants into a prison-like environment, where they donned inmate uniforms and assumed the roles of characters from the show. Inside a futuristic one-way mirror cell, participants were equipped with VR headsets, immersing themselves in a dreamlike flashback sequence. From a ghostly, omnipresent perspective, they traversed key scenes from the series while listening to character dialogues and eerie whispers, fully experiencing the show’s suspenseful atmosphere. Meanwhile, external spectators could view the VR experience in real time through the one-way mirror installation, witnessing both the virtual world and the dramatic audiovisual effects within the space. Simultaneously, those engaged in the VR experience became "performers" for the outside audience, transforming the entire event into an immersive theatrical production.
Outcome
The "Nowhere Man: Immersive Night" event received overwhelming acclaim, attracting over 10,000 attendees in a single evening and sparking widespread discussions across social and traditional media. The fusion of immersive VR storytelling with striking audiovisual effects fully transported participants into the show’s mysterious and thrilling world. The event not only generated unprecedented exposure and engagement for Nowhere Man but also reinforced Netflix’s presence and influence in the Mandarin-speaking market.
Credits
