Netflix | The Sandman Lullabies: AI-Powered Dreaming

The Electric Factory won a Webby!

The AI-driven campaign for Nexflix’s The Sandman series picked up “Best Use of Voice Technology” and we couldn’t be prouder. Have a conversation with The Sandman themselves, then fall asleep to your custom lullaby.  

An elegant mix of technologies: AI music creation // conversational AI // sentiment analysis // Midjourney art creation created a deeply personal and intimate immersive experience that actually removed the tech from the human experience. The full case study is well worth a deep dive.

Netflix came to us looking for a way to promote the launch of ‘The Sandman,’ a powerful fantasy series about the personification of dreams. But how do you engage people with a series that’s all about the power of dreams without adding hallucinogens to their breakfast cereal?

How could our audience experience the power of dreams for themselves?

We didn’t just want our audience to watch the show, we wanted them to dream about it too. But since none of our team had mind-bending powers, we had to find a way of using technology to make this possible. And when we realized there was nothing out there already which could do this, we knew that we would have to build it ourselves.

Research told us that our interactions before we fall asleep can influence the way we dream. So, we decided to give bedtime a 21st century makeover.

Our innovative approach to the brief gave The Sandman’s audience a unique and highly personal way of interacting with the show while generating significant media coverage. As other content providers fought for attention in the waking world, we helped Netflix to leapfrog them all by taking our message into the dreaming world.

Using Artificial Intelligence to promote good dreams

Research told us that our interactions before we fall asleep can influence the way we dream. So, we decided to give bedtime a 21st century makeover. First, we used AI to compose eleven relaxing lullabies and meditative videos based on the scripts and visuals from all eleven episodes of the series. Then, we brought The Sandman to life as an Alexa Skill and encouraged people to talk to him before going to bed. By running their conversations through sentiment analysis software, The Sandman could choose the best lullaby to play to them based on their current mood: helping them drift off peacefully into the dreaming world…