- Experiential
US Open Fan Experience 2025
US Open Fan Experience 2025
At the 2025 US Open Fan Experience, Thinkingbox partnered with Momentum Worldwide to create an immersive activation for American Express that let fans step directly into the game. Through a tennis ball POV experience, participants were superimposed into a virtual tennis match, giving players of every skill level the chance to look and feel like pros.
Virtual Tennis Ball POV Scene
The virtual scene was built in Unreal Engine 5, featuring an American Express–branded court set against a vibrant New York City street backdrop. Designed as a seamless video loop made for social sharing, the match followed the ball from serve to finish as two players battled through a rally. A custom capture system queued players to ensure that no matter how a participant swung, the final output always looked polished and professional.
Virtual Capture Studio
To bring fans into this environment, we constructed a virtual studio equipped with a green screen stage and high-definition 4K camera capture. Players were live composited into the Unreal scene using chroma keying and carefully matched physical lighting that mirrored the virtual court. A brand ambassador tagged each swing with metadata, allowing the system to sync player movements with the ball’s trajectory in real time. The result was a seamless illusion where every fan became the star of their own highlight reel.
