Accenture Has the Virtual Touch in This Remarkable Covid Art Project

As hands-on experiences suffer under the thumb of Covid-19, Accenture Interactive—through its Hjaltelin Stahl agency—reaches out with an elegant virtual alternative in Denmark.

Dubbed “Touch,” a new pro-bono campaign invites Danes to first upload pictures of their hands, along with personal statements of hope:

In turn, each upload adds a patch of digital “skin” to this A.I.-generated 3-D hand:

Once complete, that image, adorned with 3,000 photos and texts so far in just 48 hours, will serve as a digital time-capsule of the nation’s solidarity against the pandemic. For each hand, Danish retailer Coop will donate 5 kroner (a bit less than $1) to Danish Red Cross Covid-19 relief efforts.

What’s more, the National Gallery in Copenhagen has invited artists to create responses to the uploads for an IRL exhibition.

This handy film breaks it all down:

At the outset, Coop and the National Gallery wished to inspire Danes through an artistic monument that would also prove instructive for future generations. They asked Accenture “to bring this initiative to life so that all Danes could contribute and participate somehow,” Adam Kerj, chief creative officer at Accenture Interactive Nordics tells Muse.

“The ideation process was very tight,” Kerj recalls. “A pressure-cooker format for 24 hours resulted in over 70 ideas that were then discussed by a core team. We presented 12 to our client and ‘Touched’ [‘Berørt’ in Danish] stood out strongly. The idea originally came from one of our creatives, James Godfrey, a brilliant Aussie who recently joined us.”

All in all, it’s an accessible, potent fusion of art and technology, with imagery befitting a time fraught with anxiety and isolation, when the very concept of touch almost feels like a remnant of the past.

“The plan is for three artists to contribute their own interpretation of the ‘Touched’ project, and there will be an exhibition for people to attend,” Kerj says.

“We also want to make these monuments accessible to the people of Denmark and so our ambition is to have the final art objects make a tour throughout the country, and the virtual 3-D hand experience will live on.”

The team in Denmark worked with the Accenture Interactive Innovation Center in Sophia Antipolis, France, on the project.

CREDITS

Angelo Pozzato – Chief Technology Officer
Mathias Hornstrup – Specialist, Martech
Steffen Hjaltelin – Founder
Adam Kerj – Chief Creative Officer
Kim Henriksen – Head of UX and Strategic Design
Jacob Jørgensen Holm – Consultant, UX Design
Jacob Benzon – Head of Digital Leads
Robert Preuss – Senior Consultant, Influencer & Activations
Kristoffer Gandsager – Creative Director
James Arthur Godfrey – Creative Director
Morten Bak McKenna – Senior Digital Creative
Dennis Lynge – Design Director
Martin Nørgaard Furze – Director, film
Sofie Sandager Windfeldt Andersen – Account Manager