Was Forever21's augmented reality Times Square billboard inspired by "hand from above"?

Was Forever21's augmented reality Times Square billboard inspired by "hand from above"?

Looks like we've found yet another case similar to the Toshiba chairs in space that looked like Simon Faithfull's chairs in space.
There's currently an Augmented Reality Billboard in Times Square for Forever 21, and while it's not a clever PSA mirroring peoples behaviour to make a point, it uses the same neat-o tech to make a 50 foot woman on the billboard interact with the crowds on the street. She even picks people up and throws them off the screen.
forever 21 billboard - augmented reality - Times Square
Hmm. That sounds a little familiar. Like Chris O'Shea's augmented reality billboard "Hand from above" picked people up and threw them off screen. (Scroll down for his video).
But then it gets even more interesting. Chris says in the comments on Vimeo;

I was contacted in March by space150, with them asking “We have a couple OpenCV projects in the works right now that our designers and developers are working through and would love to chat with you about the possibility of contracting your services for a duration on these projects”.
This is a very vague and generic request....



Although Goossen's remarks are uncivil (and ignorant of interactive and computational media arts), he's absolutely right about one thing, when he writes, "the concept is locked before I'm hired - if you worked in the industry you'd know an ad agency comes up with the idea and then hires a director." Goossen merely directed the models for the shoot -- it wasn't his job to "come up with the idea". We might object to the attitude and tone of his retorts above, but the real culprit in this sorry situation is someone in the space150 agency. There's simply no question that they lifted Chris's concept (for the record: a giant billboard character plucking live pedestrians, etc.). Their record of having contacted him shows that they were aware of his project -- and by emailing him with a "vague request" (instead of a specific proposal or even a heads-up notice), they plainly reveal their low character.
A lot of people benefited in a lot of different ways from the Times Square billboard. (What was the budget for this thing, any guesses?) But one person -- the artist who invented the core premise, and who showed that it could be done -- received nothing: not even the courtesy of a heads-up. Not even being asked the straight question, "We intend to reinterpret this idea; in respect of your obvious prior authorship, what would be an acceptable form of acknowledgement/involvement/remuneration to receive your blessing? So that we can go forth without damaging our reputation in the worldwide community of interactive designers and developers?"


The problem is you can not copyright an idea. And we in advertising might think we're in the idea business, but really we're not. We're in the business of execution and taming ideas to fit-a-client business. However, copying an execution may get you into legal trouble and the line is difficult to find for some. The moral line seems pretty obvious to me though, if you're inspired by a living artist, hire that artist.

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to AdLand.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.