Brief: Encompassing the 2016 Met Gala Theme with IBM’s Watson AI Power
The 2016 Met Gala centered around the theme “Manus x Machina: Man and Machine in the Age of Fashion.” This presented a golden opportunity for IBM to actively participate and unveil the capabilities of their cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence, Watson.
Our Response: Can Watson Craft Couture?
In the lead-up to the Met Gala, IBM embarked on a remarkable initiative, partnering with the esteemed design house Marchesa to actualize a singular dress through the application of A.I. With persistence, IBM convinced the collaborators to embrace Watson’s potential. The endeavor involved feeding Watson an extensive dataset, including hundreds of red carpet dress images and thousands of articles detailing fabric nuances. This concerted effort bore fruit as the IBM team devised a system capable of offering designers novel fabric and color choices, igniting creativity.
However, the boundaries of innovation beckoned further exploration. Watson’s proficiency in processing real-time data across numerous parameters was evident, honed through prior engagements such as the U.S. Open executions by Ogilvy. This propelled us to ponder: could the dress’s color shift in response to social media sentiment? Leveraging the tone analyzer’s prowess, we translated emotional characteristics into a spectrum of colors programmable into LEDs.
Eager to realize this dynamic color adaptation, we developed an intricate system that harnessed real-time Twitter mentions. By integrating a microcomputer with over 100 LEDs discreetly concealed behind delicate tulle flowers, the dress connected to the internet, receiving API calls from Watson. This ingenious creation not only proved a resounding success for IBM but also captured social media’s limelight as the most-discussed dress of the Met Gala that year.
In my capacity as Executive Producer for the project, I navigated the realms of feasibility and scope, collaborating with creative tech experts, meticulously dealing with hot glue and wiring intricacies, and overseeing logistics to and from the Met Gala.
Subsequently, the dress embarked on a journey to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona post the Met Gala. Finally, its permanent abode became the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, Michigan, marking a fitting culmination to its remarkable journey.
