We're Going "Na'vi" at The Grove

L.A.'s famous shopping Mecca The Grove, where some of your favorite stars hang out, is turning blue this month in anticipation of the Blu-Ray and DVD release of the mega-popular film Avatar on April 22nd,.  Right in the middle of the plaza there is a free-standing interactive display with three "morphing stations" that will turn you into a blue Na'vi.  

Using custom, ultra-modern facial recognition software, when a mall visitor lines up his or her face with an outline on the screen, the system scans their face, maps out eyes and nose etc., recognizes if they're a guy or a girl then turns them into the Avatar version of themselves.

But the software doesn't lose what makes you... you. You just look like you as a Na'vi. Pretty cool. But there's more. Then you can type in your e-mail address on a screen and e-mail the new "blue you" to all your pals.  

Yes we know that you can upload a pic of yourself on the net and do something similar but sort of like in the futuristic Tom Cruise movie Minority Report, with this system, you are scanned in real time, in a mall. Really cool. 

The company setting all this up is called In Window Outdoor. According to their spokesman, they usually create cool, interactive, high tech window displays, often in malls. They've created about 1,000 in four years and you might have seen one in your hometown mall. If you or a friend are in L.A. this month, be sure to stop by The Grove and "go blue"!