GRIOT THE AI: LOCATION AND MAP
For nearly 2 years, our team at Perception collaborated with the team at Marvel Studios to conceptualize and design all of the innovative and advanced technology of Wakanda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. From holograms and HUDs to smart screens and UI, our team contributed around 100 shots for the film.
One of our most interesting contributions was the development of Griot. Our team performed the entire conceptual development for Griot, beginning with who Griot is, what his personality and functions are, and how he physically looks. Our final design for Griot is spherical with an orb in the middle. This orb shifts and and moves as it talks, pulsing with voice inflections and statements. Smaller UI bits surround Griot, providing details and additional support capabilities to the AI. Within the outer sphere, Griot can show data, allowing the AI to serve a visual purpose as well. Griot is light-based and follows Shuri’s orange and white color scheme seen throughout her lab.
A critical feature of Griot is his map display. In an urgent search to locate Shuri and her Kimoyo Beads, Griot enters “map mode”, displaying a map while also calling Agent Ross. The appearance of Griot’s map and call feature would pair with the look of Griot itself. As we ran through design choices for Griot, we experimented with how the map could appear.
Throughout the process of developing Griot’s map, we considered how the map may appear from every angle it could possibly be viewed from. Since Griot is free-floating throughout Shuri’s lab, disconnected from any screens, Griot could be perceived from all 360 degrees around the AI. We tested how the imagery of Griot’s map could be viewed from all perspectives, adding in depth and extra dimension to each detail contained within the map.
Our final design puts the map in the center of Griot’s main circle. This allows Griot to naturally zoom in on the map and pinpoint location destinations of items or people. The call feature is also smaller and dedicated to the edges of Griot’s circle, highlighting the map as the more prominent feature.
