Sounds of India is an AI powered musical experiment that sought to capture hundreds of thousands of unique voices singing India's national anthem Jana Mana Gana, whilst educating people about traditional Indian music. Using emerging audio technologies of DDSP and Tone Transfer, we created an experience that allowed audio capture and subsequent 'transfer' to one of several traditional Indian instruments, culminating in a performance aired on live television for India's Independence Day in 2020.

My role: Lead initial concept exploration working closely with the Magenta team at Google. The nascent Tone Transfer technology was explored through UXR, use case hypotheses and Creative Development before determining several routes for R&D.
Partners: Google India, Prasar Bharati, Virtual Bharat, bit.studio, Magenta, Tensorflow
Results: The final project film was released by Google India and viewed almost 50M times. 150K people completed the experience and over 10K submitted their voices to be used as part of a combined national anthem track.

GLICODE uses computer vision to turn candy into code and teach computer science to kids in a fun and interactive way. By physically laying out different Glico snacks like Pocky and Almond Peak in different configurations, orientations and sequences, our app captures these layouts and corresponds them to commands that control a character in a game world through increasingly difficult puzzles and challenges.

My Role: Project Strategy and Concept Development, Prototyping/R&D, Creative Strategy, Creative Direction
Partners: Ezaki Glico, Dentsu, Birdman, Kokonoe, Robot, Ad Brain, Google Japan, Hour of Code
Results: MIC Grant and adoption as official Government program in Japanese Primary School Curriculum, Hour of Code and SXSW Edu curriculum integration, 100K+ users in 3 months and workshopped in schools across Japan, scaled from Japan to Thailand and the US
Awards: Spikes Asia 2017 Gold: Augmented Mobile Experience (8 awards total), Cannes Lions 2017: PR (Bronze), Mobile (Bronze), Code Award 2017 Grand Prix, ADC 96th Annual Award: Education (Bronze), WOMMY 2017: Technology (Gold), AdStars 2017: Mobile (Grand Prix, 10 awards total)

When I first joined the ZOO team in Japan, we had never launched a project. I set up a framework designed to focus our efforts on doing projects that had Google technology at their core, meaningfully delivered on client partner metrics, and greatly emphasized the importance of tech projects being used to do good in the world, finding the overlap between innovation and creating culturally impactful work. This framework led to our first project in partnership with Lux, Japan's most popular shampoo brand, to launch their inaugural seasonal variant for 'Sakura' - Cherry Blossom, in Japan.

In 2016, Google Street View had just released its depth API, allowing objects to be placed with perspective as overlays within the platform. We created a mobile and desktop experience where users could plant virtual cherry blossom trees anywhere in the world, spreading the beauty of Sakura to promote Lux'sLimited Edition Sakura Dream variant.

March 2016 also marked the five year anniversary of the 2011 tsunami in Tohoku. Planting virtual cherry blossom trees inspired us, so we convinced Unilever to bring Sakura Dream to life, in a place that needed it the most. We partnered with local government and NGO Sakura line 311, and took 10yen from every bottle of Lux sold and bought hundreds of real Sakura trees, and started planting them along an invisible line 170km long that marks the furthest point inland the devastating tsunami reached. The Sakura Dream Project acts as a memorial to the past, and a marker for the future. We are still partnering with Sakura Line 311 today, donating to the cause, and volunteering our time to help plant trees in and around the Tohoku region. The project was extremely humbling and emotional to be a part of, remains very close to my heart, and is one of my proudest achievements of my time in Japan.

My Role: Concept Origination, Creative Direction, Technical Direction, End-to-end Client and Production Management
Partners: Unilever Japan, JWT APAC, jam3, Google Japan, Sakura Line 311
Results: 250M Impressions and 700K users in the first 3 months. 500K bottles of Lux Luminique 'Sakura Dream' sold in the first week, exceeding sales targets by 960%. The project is still active 5 years later with Unilever donating 10JPY from every bottle sold to Sakura Line 311

My Role: Project Initiation, Research, Planning, Creative Strategy and Creative Direction
Partners: OnePlus, Unit9
Results: 146K+ players on day one alone, over 635K+ unique web sessions
Awards: FWA Site of the Day x1

JAXA is Japan's national space agency, similar to NASA in the US. Google had the opportunity to partner with them in July 2016 when Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi lifted off to the International Space Station, and my team was approached to develop a concept in collaboration with JAXA and Onishi-san. Our insight was that the next generation of astronauts are currently sitting behind school desks around the world - but to them science is complicated and space is light years away. We wanted to use this opportunity to inspire and educate kids and young adults about the importance of JAXA's scientific contributions onboard the ISS - and bring space a little closer using the magic of VR and Google Cardboard.

Kibo Science 360 is the world's first VR Cardboard Space Helmet that turns anyone into an astronaut. We combined the traditional Japanese art of origami with the new technology (at the time) of VR gaming by creating a single-sheet, foldable, customizable cardboard helmet with Google cardboard built into the visor. An accompanying VR app takes kids on an immersive mission into space where they can conduct experiments alongside Onishi-san in VR mini-games where they can earn about microgravity and the equipment onboard the ISS.

To launch the experience we conducted a livestream from the Tsukuba Space Station with a big group of very excited school kids, Japan's #1 YouTube creator Hajime Shacho, ex-astronaut and previous ISS resident Akihiko Hoshide, and Onishi-san himself from onboard the ISS, hurtling 400km above the earth at 27,6000km/h. Onishi-san answered the group's questions live from space, and conducted experiments alongside them, at one point mixing coffee and milk in zero gravity to make a space latte. 'Kibo' means 'hope' in Japanese.

My Role: Concept Origination, R&D, Creative Strategy, Production Management
Partners: JAXA, Google Japan, YouTube Marketing, Dentsu, N&R Foldings, Paperworld, Kayac
Results: X