Microsoft B87

FREEFORM SKUNKWORKS

Plenty of companies have secret R&D labs where they dream up the future, but even in the high-pressure world of technology, Building 87 is unique.

Its diverse group of experts have free reign to experiment and investigate with fewer deadlines and limited product launches. They strive to get a holistic view, often inventing new technologies and processes to make that possible. Their goal? Hardware so good and so intuitive that it disappears into the background and simply lets people connect with others and/or the physical world. Our goal? Give the world a sneak peak at the toys, tools, and brains creating the future, in a mind-bending WebGL microsite experience.

WHERE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

Much of the best ideas in science fiction and science television (holodeck, anyone?) keep a basic reference of something familiar to the viewer. In our case, we wanted to create the framework of a room with four walls, a floor and a ceiling. But we played freely with proportions and perceived space, reflecting the limitless possibilities and potential embodied by the Building 87 team.

360° OF INNOVATION

Working closely with the featured teams—each area received its own room anchored by long-form video—shot, edited and produced by our studio. Interactive widgets on the walls call out the most interesting human-machine interactions being investigated in Building 87, giving the audience an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse at the technology of tomorrow.

THE WORLD TAKES NOTICE

Not only did the internet and design community at large take notice on Twitter and Facebook, our spotlight earned Microsoft’s anechoic chamber a mention on Saturday Night Live.

• AWWWARD
• FWA Site of the Day
• American Advertising Award
• NBC News “Microsoft’s Anechoic Chamber Sets Record for Quietest Place in World”
• Venture Beat “Look inside Microsoft’s anechoic chamber, officially the quietest place on Earth”
• Business Insider “Inside Building 87, Microsoft’s hidden mad science laboratory”