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Shiseido – Beyond Time
R/GAJapan
Engaging
Production / ProfessionalTeam
Niklas Lilja, Creative Direction, R/GA Tokyo
Anthony Baker, Technical Direction, R/GA Tokyo
Seamus Higgins, Case Film Creative Direction, R/GA Sydney
Toru Nagahama, Design Direction, R/GA Tokyo
Jedy Chen, Research / Software Development, R/GA Tokyo
Naru Kudo, Project Produce / Project Management, R/GA Tokyo
Aleksandra Nowacka, Project Management, R/GA Tokyo
Marvin Varela / Ayumu Nagamatsu / Scott Rothman, Software Development, R/GA Tokyo
Kumi Tominaga, Lighting Animation Development / QA, R/GA Tokyo
Tyler Bowers / Masa Tanaka, Installation Design / Logo Design, R/GA Tokyo
Mark Lloyd Ruck, UX Design, R/GA Tokyo
Reynan Shimada, UX Design, R/GA Tokyo
Wing Luo, 3D Face Design, R/GA NY
Tetsuro Kanegae, Creative Direction, Shiseido
Takashi Maruyama, Aging Technology Direction, Shiseido
Masato Kosukegawa, Supervisor, Shiseido
Mika Ishii, Project Produce, Shiseido
Asuka Hashiguchi, Copywriting, Shiseido
Keisuke Yoshida / Hiromasa Imaizumi, Space Design/Façade Simulation/Programming / Installation Project Management, NOMLAB
Takeharu Hanokizawa, Film Production, TYO CampKAZ
Overview
There is beauty in growing old.
In most countries around the world, “beauty” is narrowly defined as a youthful face with perfect skin. The perpetuation of this ideal by culture and advertising only serves to reinforce the perception, and makes people forget that age can be beautiful as well. The mind affects the body as much as the other way around. As a leader in the beauty category, Shiseido recognizes the importance of mental wellness and positivity as essential keys to physical beauty.
Beyond Time is an innovative interactive installation designed to make it possible for individuals to speak with one another through time; with digitally aged or de-aged versions of friends, family, and loved ones.
In doing so, the experiment sparked emotional conversations about aging that transcended time; freed people from expected age roles; and led people to discover the beauty of growing old.
Conversation prompts tailored specifically for your relationship, how long you’ve known each other, and the time jump encouraged people to think differently about the effects of aging, and to understand that the most beautiful parts of themselves can actually get better with time.
Beyond Time is more than an immersive age simulation experience. It is an emotional experience that encourages people to recognize the beauty of growing old—an endeavor from one of Japan’s most iconic brands to promote a deeper definition of “beautiful” that is both more inclusive and more real.
Beyond Time was conceived as an R&D project for one specific location, the Shiseido Innovation Center, to bring to life Shiseido’s new global purpose: Beauty Innovations for a Better World. It has struck a chord with the Japanese audience, with lines of up to 4 hours on opening week. We’ve since had to build a reservation system to cut down the wait time, and so far, the experience has been fully booked.
Internally, Beyond Time has shifted how Shiseido use data. They are now collaborating more closely between product development, communication and Innovation to convert and make use of the century of data they have at their disposal, but have never used before.
