Terminator Genisys

Play Nicely / Kinect Marketing Experience

Terminator Genisys was an interactive Kinect experience created by Play Nicely for the marketing campaign around the Terminator Genisys film.

The experience allowed users to stand in front of a screen and see themselves transformed into a T-1000 style chrome character. It was designed for expos, premieres and marketing events, giving people a quick, memorable way to step into the world of the film.

The installation went on to be used worldwide at a range of live events, so it needed to be simple to use, visually striking and reliable in a busy public setting.

My Role

Unity Developer

I worked as part of the development team, helping to build the overall experience flow, gameplay elements and UI integration.

My focus was on making the interaction feel clear and event-friendly, guiding users through the experience and making sure the different screens, transitions and interactive moments worked smoothly together.

Another developer created the silver shader effect that turned users into chrome, while I helped bring the surrounding experience together in Unity.

What I Worked On

I helped develop the user journey from start to finish, including how people entered the experience, interacted with the Kinect setup, triggered key moments and moved through the final output.

I also worked on gameplay-style elements and UI integration, making sure the experience felt more like an interactive moment than a simple camera effect. This included supporting the timing, feedback and flow needed for a fast-moving live event environment.

The Challenge

The main challenge was creating something that looked impressive but was still easy for the public to understand immediately.

At events, users often only have a few seconds to work out what to do, so the experience needed to be clear, responsive and robust. The interaction had to feel fun without requiring explanation, while still supporting the visual impact of the T-1000 transformation.

The Result

The experience became part of the worldwide promotional activity for Terminator Genisys, appearing at expos and marketing events where fans could transform themselves into a T-1000.

It was a strong example of using Unity and Kinect to create a high-impact branded experience for a live audience, combining real-time interaction, visual effects and a simple public-facing user flow.