View Entry

Company: Firstline Interactive Systems Ltd
Project: E.ON - Interactive House

http://www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/Going-Green/Energy-Saving-Advice/Interactive-House/

Dates: Jun 2007 to Nov 2007

How did the project start?

EON contacted Firstline Interactive in June 2007 after seeing our 3D work on the web, liked what they saw and called to ask if we'd be interested in working with them on a new project.
E.ON wanted to include an Interactive House within their company website that raised awareness of the energy and CO2 savings possible for UK householders. The house needed to illustrate energy saving ideas, and demonstrate the possible savings to be made. They wanted an aspirational but achievable, comfortable, family home that anyone could imagine themselves living in, not an unused show home. No small order we think you’ll agree!

What options did you consider?

The project specified using Flash, and because we wanted the best graphics possible we opted to use Maya.

What help and expertise did you receive?

None, it was all in house born and bred.

Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?

Like any other large corporation, E.ON has very stringent branding restrictions which we had to take into consideration when designing our solution, we also had to ensure that the Interactive House fitted within the framework of their existing website, employing the technologies already used, and could be maintained and updated by E.ON staff.

The 3D graphics for the Interactive House were built entirely in Maya, an industry leading 3D animation and visual effects package used on such things as Lord of the Rings and Transformers. This enabled us to produce the hundreds of high quality, realistic and detailed graphics you see while exploring the house.

What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?

The house went live in October.
Visitors exploring the house can see calculators showing the savings they could make to encourage them to make changes and save money and the amount of CO2 their household produces. They can store the information they read and want to retain using the Notepad. Special touches, such as moving clouds, falling leaves, steam rising from pans, fish swimming in the fish tank and E.ON’s own adverts playing on the TV, all contribute to the user experience.

On the coffee table users can stumble across the Popular Myths coffee table book, a feature which was created to provide an interesting and enjoyable way for visitors to learn more about energy saving myths.

And there’s not just one version of the house, the house changes throughout the year reflecting the seasons and some special occasions like Bonfire Night and Easter. It’s difficult to pick your favourite, Halloween and its pumpkin lanterns or Christmas with decorations, presents and a Christmas Tree decorated with lights with the falling snow we’d all like to make our Christmas a ‘White Christmas’.

E.ON staff can edit and update the information provided and the values used for the calculations as and when required as well as moving the dates of the special occasions to ensure that FA cup changes are present at the right time.

Firstline’s teamwork, dedication, attention to detail and determination to stay on schedule and deliver on time have produced a high quality Interactive House and exceptional user experience.

Firstline have received enquiries from as far afield as the US from companies who have seen the Interactive House and are interested in using Firstline's services.

What are your plans for the future?

For the future, Firstline intends to produce more interactive solutions aiming to provide an exceptional user experience and distribute information in memorable and interesting ways.