Waymo: CES 2026
• THE BRIEF
How do you make a self-driving car feel like something worth falling in love with?
Waymo's brief was deceptively simple: make autonomous vehicle technology feel not just impressive, but genuinely fun. In a category narrowing toward sleek, isolated visions of the future, we saw an opportunity to inject unabashed whimsy and joy.
• THE CLIENTS
Waymo
• MY ROLE
Senior Art Director | NVE Experience Agency
• THE CHALLENGE
The booth sat at the intersection of three major walkways: prime real estate, but also a crowded corner where everyone's already looking at five other things.
So we built something unmissable. A replica Waymo floating overhead like it had already taken off. A rotating "W" anchoring the center. Sight lines that pulled you in from every direction, no matter which way you were walking.
AI driving scenarios played across a curved screen while the physical environment reacted in sync. Road signs lit up. Props shifted. Soap bubbles unexpectedly blew out of the wall. The Waymo Driver handled it all, emphasizing safety even in unserious situations.
Tap your NFC badge.
Receive a branded pin.
Signal your fandom.
5,329 people pressed the button!
(235% YoY increase in attendee email collection)
Step inside a small theatre and hear from real riders why they trust - and love - Waymo.
Inside a real Waymo vehicle, a depth-sensing photo booth transformed the windows into the city of your choice. Los Angeles. Austin. Miami. A countdown. A flash. Moments later, you received a digital postcard from CES.
A depth-sensing photo booth inside a real Waymo vehicle. Pick a city, the windows transform into that cityscape, you get a digital postcard from CES.
A seamless animation followed a Waymo vehicle through whimsical, illustrated versions of the 26 cities where it’s already live or in testing. Wrapped across the exterior screens, the loop acted like a moving horizon, pulling guests in before they'd even entered the space.
• MY ROLE
I owned the art direction and concepting for the interactive zones: working with digital vendors, technologists, spatial designers, and fabricators to turn "wouldn't it be cool if..." into actual physical things people could touch and interact with. I also partnered with strategy to make sure our ideas could survive a client presentation, which is its own form of performance art.
The mandate was deceptively simple: make cutting-edge AI technology feel approachable and delightful to people who are overstimulated, exhausted, and wandering a Vegas convention center. So, you know. Easy.
• RESULTS
5,960 unique visitors across four days
1.12M total on-site impressions (+19% YoY)
15–30 minute dwell time (+15–25% YoY)
9,500+ pins distributed
5,329 NFC taps and marketing sign-ups (+235% YoY)
• AWARDS
CES 2026 BOSS Award: Gold - awarded first place by the The Experiential Design Authority ->
Best of CES by Exhibitor Online ->
• TEAM CREDITS
SVP Creative: Jason Immaraju
Creative Director: Angela Bartlett
Concept Team: Veronika Watson-Kuc (art) & Radel Huley (copy)
Sr Experiential Designer: David Roan
Sr Art Director: Jeff Dickens
Graphic Designer: Nikka Bacalzo
Content Animator: Ben Konkol
Creative PM: Mandy Agderian
