São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) will resort to innovation to host the Economic Forum Brazil & Arab Countries from October 19 to 22. The event will feature two different areas: a plenary and an exhibition at which for businesspeople to connect. The plenary will employ digital tools in a television-like format. The exhibition will offer navigability, with ten different tools for s to interact. Participants with access to 3D goggles and a smartphone will enjoy an even more immersive and real experience.
The biennially-held forum has become the place par excellence for Arabs and Brazilians to meet. The coronavirus pandemic prompted the ABCC to go the digital route this year. ABCC president Rubens Hannun said that since no travel will be required, an even broader audience will be able to attend, even in Arab countries not as closely connected with Brazil, like the Comoros and Somalia, as well as elsewhere in the world.
The discussion forum will bear no resemblance to the window-based environment often seen in webinars, said the plenary’s art and project director Sandro Vieira (pictured above). He combined his expertise in TV shows and virtual events to design the environment. Vieira believes the result ranks among the ten best such designs in the world right now.
The artfully designed setting will see some ists speak from a studio, featuring multiple cameras and perspectives, with safety measures in place to prevent infection by Covid-19. The background will feature the Forum logo and arabesque patters. “We created an enthralling design that we might have been unable to accomplish in the real world. The virtual realm allows you to take flight,” he told ANBA.
The platform’s developers will even work on matching up the visual and aesthetical identities of speakers’ text presentations. Experts and authorities in different cities and countries will be set against backdrop designs, as cameras go back and forth between the content and the ists.
The event will open with a quick artist performance incorporating virtual resources to trace back the history of Arab immigration in Brazil, the adaptation into society, the creation of the ABCC, its work and its international reach. “The event will address some very dense subjects, so this will start the day with some energy,” Sandro Vieira explains.
He remarks that although there are some good events out there, this particular project is about the viewer’s experience, with multiple attention-grabbing tools. “We have to be one of the ten best events in the world, because of the cutting-edge format. What we are doing online is much closer to television than it is to other internet events.” And this is without a major budget, in keeping with the austerity that the times require.
Vieira is an art director with 25 years of experience, and the owner of Tailored, a creative development and art direction laboratory. Many of the pre-pandemic, real-life events he worked on were also airing online, which gave him some additional experience. Vieira has a team working the Forum, led by executive producer Gil Martins and technical director Mauricio Lomaski. The Forum will incorporate multiple technologies into one single platform.
Interactive exhibition
The Forum’s exhibition area will be a 3D environment featuring design by Aldo Cappucci Filho of the agency Wiym. Virtual stands will feature Arab and Brazilian sponsor companies, plus an ABCC area and a virtual café. Everything will be interactive. Viewers can navigate the environments to look at what is on showcase, go into available spaces, and connect or schedule to connect with whoever they want.
Cappucci designed the ABCC stand at last year’s Apas Show, which won an award for Best International Stand. His virtual exhibition design for the Forum features some elements from the award-winning stand, like mashrabiya and mosaics, in addition to the Forum logo. The environment is permeated by modern Arab architecture, with sinuous shapes and stand tops reminiscent of Arab scarves and desert dunes. He drew inspiration from the work of Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. Brazilian features include wood, stone details in shelves, and gold.
Interaction tools are aplenty. s can check out the stands, access glass displays, see details for each product, presentations, videos and catalogs, and interact with attendants. Possibilities vary according to the packages purchased by exhibitors. The ABCC stand will feature tables where viewers can schedule a meeting with staff. Also featured will be a “Message from the President.” Viewers at the café will also be able to interact with one another.
Cappucci explains that his concern was to enable s to share information and interact quickly, from anywhere and using tablets, cell phones or computers. He avoided using tools that are “very dense and heavy, requiring appropriate equipment and internet speed.” The 3D exhibition was created by combining multiple tools.
The environment feels highly immersive. s with a smartphone and compatible 3D goggles will get a very convincing reality-like experience. All it takes is to click on an icon on the bottom left corner of the page. Not all links are active in this format. The event can be navigated without goggles and on any equipment – it will still feel real.
Quick facts
Brazil & Arab Countries Economic Forum
October 19-22, 2020
s: 9am-1:30pm (8:30am on the 19th)
Exhibition: 8:30am-6pm
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Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
