Carnival Cruise Places Interactive “Aquariums” in Store Windows

To engage viewers and get them thinking about life on the ocean, Carnival Cruise Lines is placing interactive digital “aquariums” into empty store windows in six U.S. cities.

The promotion, which will run through the end of April, will use computer vision, Flash animation and mobile gaming software to let passersby create and then control their own fish in the aquarium using their mobile phones.

When visitors first walk past the window display screen, seaweed and underwater plants move in response to their presence. A window sign instructs them to call a number on their cell phones and create a digital fish for the aquarium using voice commands. Once it’s been customized, users can move their fish around the tank using their keypads.

Once they’ve finished playing with the fish they’ve created, users receive a thank-you SMS message to their cell phones inviting them to visit online for additional activities and information.

The interactive aquariums mirror the essence of the Carnival vacation experience in that they are designed to provide people with highly memorable and spontaneous fun,” senior marketing vice president Jim Berra said in a release.

The virtual aquariums, which were developed by Carnival’s agency of record Arnold Worldwide in conjunction with Monster Media, will be in Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C. through the end of April.