The Times uses mixed reality AI to turn UK billboards into “windows to the past”

The Times and The Sunday Times have a 240 year heritage of making sense of seismic moments in history. Calling on its reputation as a trusted and credible source of news, the news brand uses the presence of Digital Out of Home to demonstrate its legacy in a way that is visceral, location relevant and emotionally resonant. 

Created by The Times and T&P, working with MOSAIC, ‘For Our Changing Times’ uses Ai and mixed reality technology to transform DOOH into windows to the past. The idea won Gold in the commercial category of Ocean Outdoor’s annual Digital Creative Competition which seeks bold, original ideas in Out of Home. 

The campaign was launched on 18th May for two weeks, the work appears across two UK locations: Corporation Street in Birmingham and Deansgate, Manchester. T&P is among the first to use mixed reality on D6 screens, blending a live camera feed of a real street with a historically accurate recreation of that same location decades in the past. Through this campaign, they have created a genuinely immersive “window into history” effect in a real-world public space.    

Each execution opens with a live camera feed of the billboard’s real-world modern day surroundings before transitioning into the mixed reality recreation of a defining historical 20th century event. Remarkable motion pictures show firefighters tackling a blaze during the Birmingham Blitz, and in Manchester, a march in the birthplace of women’s suffrage.   

Authentic excerpts from The Times archive are displayed alongside the visuals, grounding the campaign in real, credible journalism. The creative closes with the endline: “We’ve covered it all over the last 240 years.” 

Supporting messages will also appear for the duration of the campaign across Ocean’s small format network, The Loop in Canary Wharf, Battersea Power Station and across Birmingham, alongside a large format screen in New Street. 

The idea is built around the insight that in a moment of unprecedented change, public trust in news is at an all-time low. 45% of UK adults say they feel too much change is happening at once (source: PwC), while anxiety levels have hit record highs (source: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Study). 

Matt Moreland and Chris Clarke, executive creative directors at T&P, said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to see such an innovative piece of OOH go live. Since winning the Ocean Outdoor competition, the team have worked tirelessly with The Times archive and researchers to bring this fantastic idea to life. We wanted to ensure every detail feels authentic to really give people the chance to see what it was like living in Manchester and Birmingham in the early 1900s; and our brilliant creative technologists have managed to do exactly that.” 

Ocean Outdoor UK CEO Nick Shaw said: “T&P gives the people of Birmingham and Manchester an astonishingly accurate glimpse into their past in the very places where they walk today. The idea is remarkable because it encapsulates both the craft, and the power of DOOH. The message may be simple, but it’s delivered with immense care and precision. People will see it, appreciate it and maybe even share a photo of it.”