TWF HEED premiere at the MGM Grand — UFC keynote spectacle for AWS by Jon Morris

Case Study

HEED: Turning AI Sports Data into Spectacle with UFC, Bundesliga, & Euroleague launches

Sports-tech startup HEED partnered with live experience director Jon Morris and The Windmill Factory to make real-time AI data thrilling with the UFC keynote spectacle at AWS Las Vegas, a Bundesliga keynote at AWS Summit Berlin, and elevated brand identity and real-time motion graphics system for HEED's collectible sports card launch with Euroleague Basketball.

2

AWS Keynote Spectacles — Las Vegas & Berlin

18,500+

Combined Live Keynote Audience

30+

Real-Time Motion Templates for Euroleague

1st

AI + IoT Platform in a Major Sports League — Reuters

"This latest partnership with HEED provides fans with a dynamic digital experience that brings the action closer than ever before, whether in-arena or at home."

Ari Emanuel — CEO, Endeavor

HEED Sports Tomorrow UFC keynote performance directed by Jon Morris at Amazon AWS conference Las Vegas
HEED premiere at the MGM Grand — Sports Tomorrow keynote spectacle by The Windmill Factory
Backstage at the HEED AWS keynote in Las Vegas with Amazon CTO Werner Vogels
HEED premiere at the MGM Grand — UFC fighters and digital avatars on the AWS keynote stage by Jon Morris
UFC fighters and giant digital avatars in HEED Sports Tomorrow keynote by Jon Morris
HEED UFC data visualization keynote performance by The Windmill Factory
Digital avatars synced to live UFC fight at HEED AWS keynote
140 foot video wall for HEED Sports Tomorrow keynote directed by Jon Morris
HEED UFC keynote spectacle at Amazon AWS conference Las Vegas
Edson Barboza vs Marc Diakiese UFC performance for HEED
HEED CEO Danna Rabin opens the AWS Summit Berlin keynote designed by Jon Morris
Live performer and giant superfan screen moment in the HEED Bundesliga keynote at AWS Summit Berlin, directed by Jon Morris
Thousands attend the AWS Summit Berlin keynote featuring HEED's Bundesliga launch
AWS Summit Berlin mainstage during the HEED Bundesliga keynote directed by Jon Morris
The Windmill Factory design frame for the HEED Bundesliga keynote at AWS Summit Berlin
HEED Euroleague real-time motion graphics templates by The Windmill Factory
HEED Euroleague basketball micro moments design by Jon Morris
HEED Euroleague brand identity designed by Jon Morris and The Windmill Factory
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Signature Moments

Signature Moments

UFC Fighters at the MGM Grand

Two world-class UFC fighters battling live on stage while their 30' tall digital twins transform into lightning, fire, ice above on a 140-foot screen. Every strike mirrored, measured, and amplified in real time. A live action video game arena show to launch the Heed Sports App.

Bundesliga's Collective Ecstasy at AWS Berlin

Berlin's keynote opened in total darkness with the bass-heavy roar of a football stadium shaking the room… then Dortmund's Yellow Wall exploding across the screen. A tech keynote that started as a match, not a product launch.

Sports Data Transformed Into Exciting Theatre

Punch force, momentum, energy depletion, historical kick strength… analytics staged as spectacle, timed to the rhythm of a real fight. Our visualization doesn't explain the tech — it makes it exciting.

"Heed Vision" Overall Product Concept

The pitch-winning brand concept: sports seen through a galactic yet playful lens, somewhere between Space Jam and Tron Legacy. A visual world flexible and exciting enough to be generated live, and collected thousands of times per season.

Euroleague's Luka Dončić Futuristic Collectibles

We designed thirty-plus motion templates which would trigger in real time during Euroleague games. HEED AI would detect an exciting collectible micro moment; a dunk, a block, a steal and overlay stats and our exciting futuristic designs and deliver them to fans around the globe to collect like futuristic baseball cards. A living collectible brand identity AND live broadcast system, not a style guide.

"These videos are Brilliant!"

Mati Kochavi — HEED Founder & Main Investor

Timeline

The Arc of the Collaboration

November 2017

Amazon invites HEED to headline AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. Jon conceives and directs the UFC keynote spectacle for 15,000 with Windmill Factory and Dirt Empire, one of the most talked-about moments of the conference.

April 2018

Heed Vision. TWF beats top global digital agencies to design HEED's Euroleague brand identity and 30+ real-time motion templates. HEED's first consumer release launches for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs — the first AI + IoT experience in a major sports league. That fall, SoftBank leads HEED's $35 million funding round.

February 2019

AWS Summit Berlin. HEED returns to the AWS mainstage, this time in the first slot of the keynote program to launch its Bundesliga partnership with Borussia Dortmund and SV Werder Bremen. Jon designs and storyboards the keynote, from the Yellow Wall blackout opening to the closing product story with Windmill Factory producing and Dirt Empire leading the big pixel motion graphics.

Clarity & Excitement Through-Line

From a Vegas stage to a Berlin summit to millions of fans' phones we applied the same design philosophy… showcase the product clearly, elicit emotions from fans and pave the way for a future where data plays a real time key role in sports.

"Viewers become participants, and stats become stories."

Danna Rabin — HEED Co-Founder & CEO

Let's Build Something

Jon Morris is available for creative collaborations from album strategy, creative direction, production design, and tour direction for touring artists and their teams.

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