A first look at an 9-year-old’s winning design for a new Wallace & Gromit-themed augmented reality (AR) adventure has been released.
Dominic Marday’s ‘Litteration’ contraption has been brought to life by the award-winning animation studio Aardman and the immersive storytelling platform Fictioneers. Marday’s design is now set to feature in ‘The Big Fix Up’ as part of the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) ‘Cracking Ideas’ competition.
For the contest, young people across the UK were challenged to create an innovation with the potential to ‘make life better’. Dominic’s victorious submission did exactly that: ‘Litteration’ is described as a robot equipped with an antennae, stretchy arms and wheels, built to patrol the streets, eating, sorting and recycling litter to help clean up and maintain the environment.
With Aardman and Fictioneers launching a new venture into the AR realm, ‘The Big Fix Up’ will; provide a space where fans can join the beloved Wallace & Gromit on their latest quest – Spick & Spanners – which will see them ‘Fix Up’ the city of Bristol.
Selected by UK Research & Innovation as part of its Audience of the Future programme, Fictioneers was awarded a multi-million pound grant to explore and pioneer immersive experiences.
The project is set to launch on Monday 18 January, bringing Wallace & Gromit into a new dimension. To take part in the initiative, users will be invited to download a free app and play along at home, as an employee, stepping directly into the characters’ world for the first time ever.
“Dominic’s design is an excellent example of imagination without limits – a gift we love to see in young people” – Tim Moss, CEO, IPO
This is also a first for Aardman, since the company has never before featured a fan-designed contraption in a Wallace & Gromit narrative.
Launched in October 2019, the IPO’s ‘Cracking Ideas’ competition was open to schools and young people aged 5–11. Incorporating learning and activity packs created by the animation studio, the contest’s aim was to inspire future inventors and cement the importance of protecting the intellectual property in their designs.
More than 1,500 young hopefuls entered the contest, drawing on the iconic Aardman duo’s own ideas and inventions.
Dominic’s ‘Litteration’ will take the stage in a cutting-edge AR experience that users can enjoy from the comfort of their homes, accessible to all with an AR-capable smartphone. Set against the backdrop of Bristol – home of the studio – global fans across the UK, US and Canada will be able to take part in the full end-to-end adventure, which will see the Aardman pair and an exciting cast of friends appear in their very own homes.
“Dominic’s design is an excellent example of imagination without limits – a gift we love to see in young people,” said Tim Moss, CEO of the IPO. “It’s exciting to see his ‘Litteration’ character brought to life in our own homes in this Wallace & Gromit augmented reality adventure. The UK is a great place for innovation and creativity, and it’s inventions like this that make our world a better, safer, easier and more enjoyable place in which to live.”
The adventure will be delivered by a range of media, including multi-user AR gameplay, new CGI animations, character phone calls, comic strips, Extended Reality (XR) portals and more.
The experience is voiced by an all-star cast, including Bafta®-winning British actor Miriam Margolyes OBE and Jim Carter OBE, Peep Show‘s acclaimed Isy Suttie, newcomer Grace Ahmed, and Ben Whitehead as Wallace.
Merlin Crossingham, creative director of Wallace & Gromit, commented: “Wallace & Gromit have a long relationship with the IPO, helping to inspire and inform young inventors. This is a first for us and a unique opportunity for a fan to design a contraption to help Wallace & Gromit. Having faced stiff competition, it is wonderful that Dominic’s creation will be brought to life using augmented reality as part of ‘The Big Fix Up’.”
Fans can find out more about the new characters, and pre-order the FREE app via www.thebigfixup.co.uk.
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