Every year, ad agencies send around a holiday card that showcases their creativity. Two years ago, we had the idea of a mobile orchestra that synced across multiple devices to play one song. But the technology wasn’t there yet: there was too much of a lag in communication between devices—in music, if someone is off by even a second, it ruins the song. And we didn’t want to compromise the idea by turning it into an app, or fake it by any means. So we tabled the concept, revisiting it every few months to see if technology had caught up. This year, it finally did.
The Building Blocks
Everything was built with speed in mind, communication and asset delivery had to be fast. The two essential platforms are our Node.js-based backend and Pusher, which manages messaging between the server and clients. Akamai handles asset delivery.
We chose Node.js because it has a very low latency, which is vital, as our app requires syncing multiple devices within milliseconds.
Once the Node backend coordinates start times and instrument assignments, the clients begin buffering the videos. The devices are then notified through Pusher to begin playback with start times adjusted for latency.
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MobileMobile Rich Media
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SocialSocial Media
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VideoYouTube
The Team
- AKQA www.akqa.com
- Simon Jefferson, Managing Director, San Francisco
- Stephen Clements, Executive Creative Director
- Takashi Kawashima, Senior Art Director
- Osamu Akatsu, Senior Designer
- Miranda Maney, Senior Copywriter
- James De Jesus, Director of User Experience Development
- Ray Patterson, Creative Development Manager
- Mayo Tobita, Senior Creative Developer
- Adam Creeger, Director of Product Development
- Theresa Darlington, Senior Producer
- Mike Murray, Editorial Director
- Kevin Burke, Senior Motion Graphics Designer
- Eric Clifford, Technical Architect
- Chris Miller, Software Engineer
- Stuart Lewan, Quality Assurance Engineer
- Richard Tirta, Creative Developer
- Tarik Ansari, Technical Architect
- Alyssa Prince, Project Manager
- Steven Gallardo, Associate Project Manager
- Gearoid OFlynn, Associate Director of Quality Assurance
- John Ta, Art Director, Intern
- Daniel Alvarez, Copywriter, Intern
The Stats
- 17 mobile devices tested
- 12 orchestra members
- 1 leaked orchestra photo
The Results
The project was a success on multiple levels.
Internally, we were all thrilled that we finally achieved the idea that was 2 years in the making, without compromising the vision or user experience.
In the ad world, we received a multitude of shoutouts and accolades. “Winner of best agency holiday card”; “work of the day”; “very, very cool.”
And we learned that patience and sticking to your idea pays off. That sometimes, it’s better to wait than it is to get something less-than-perfect out the door.
