5G Sith Jet Trooper Experience

5G Sith Jet Trooper Experience was an interactive augmented reality (AR) experience created by ILMxLAB, Verizon's RYOT Studios, and Walt Disney Studios StudioLAB. The experience took place at two different location for the premiere and afterparty of Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. It featured an in-universe set where guests would stand in front of a large LED screen and interact with two Sith Jetpack Troopers in real-time. Two actors, wearing motion capture suits, interacted with guests from a studio in Playa Vista, where their performance would be captured and transferred to a digital character rendered in Unreal Engine. Their interaction would then be projected onto the LED screen using a 5G connection. There was also a camera at the event that would allow the digital aspects of the experience to be composited onto the real life footage, making it appear like the Sith Jet Troopers were physically there.

The actors had lines fed to them by the on-site directors, with several pre-set animations for the performers and guests to react to. These animations included lightning in the stormy skies of Exegol, a cadre of Sith troopers running through the hangar, and use of the Jetpack Troopers' Jetpacks to hover or fly in from out of frame. As users finished their interaction, they could access a terminal in which they entered their contact information to receive the re-rendered augmented reality video of their interaction. As guests entered their information, they could watch a smaller screen showing a behind-the-scenes live feed of the actors performing in the motion capture studio.

The experience was rendered live in Epic Games' Unreal Engine. The two Sith jet troopers were performed by Hunter Smith, Verona Blue, and Alan Maxson. Despite being paired with the premiere of Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker and working with Matt Martin, the canonicity of this event has not been established.

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