Celebrity Cruises and INDE Debut Partnership with AR-powered Photo Booth Featuring Captain Kate McCue on International Women’s Day
Published: March 11, 2020
In the age of social media, visual platforms play a significant role inspiring people to choose a destination and plan activities: the search for that perfect Instagram shot has become one of the most essential drivers of traveller's vacation decisions. Luxury cruise lines don't want to lose the battle for attention, so they increasingly leverage this trend by making their ships more and more "Instagramable".
Although there are professional photographers on most cruise lines, there is one photo on most passengers' wishlist that they can't really fulfil: it's nearly impossible to have a picture with the captain. As they are the in charge of all the ship's department heads, they spent most of their time in daily meetings, leading various inspections and doing the paperwork, not to mention that they are on call 24/7.
Some mainstream cruise lines already have set up green backdrop screens and offering photo montages with the crew members, but Celebrity Cruises chose a more contemporary approach. They have partnered with full-service augmented reality company INDE to create immersive experiences that let passengers have a unique photo opportunity with the captains and the most popular crew members.
The partnership between Celebrity Cruises and INDE has started with a unique AR-powered photo booth during the International Women's Day. The luxury cruise embarked on a historic sailing on March 8, 2020, with an all-female bridge and officer team, which they have celebrated with an AR-powered HeroMirror photo booth featuring Captain Kate McCue. McCue isn't the first-ever American woman to command a mega cruise ship, but she's also a social media influencer, who often gets out and documents the ports along with the cruise's stops to her 119 thousand Instagram followers.
The HeroMirror offers passengers a unique photo opportunity with Captain Kate McCue that they can share via email. The kiosk-sized augmented reality experience doesn't only raises brand awareness or offers a revenue stream for the photo, but it also promotes the internet services onboard due to the desire of the guest to use the image immediately for social media.
“We're delighted to start our cooperation with the Royal Caribbean family with such a powerful story to tell. Our technology doesn't just generate engagement and revenue, but it also makes heroes available 24/7 for their fans, whether they're from a movie, a sports team, a band or a cruise ship’s crew. The HeroMirror Kiosk installed on Celebrity Edge is a perfect showcase of all the above, and we can't wait to have more Celebrity Cruises heroes on-board!” - told Adam Takacs, Director of Business Development, INDE.