The idea behind MTV’s light-activated website Rule Switcher, which is controlled by viewers’ webcams, is just as impressive now as it was when it was created in 2014 to promote the network’s series Sleeping with the Family.

The reality show featured young couples who moved in with their in-laws and lived under their rule for week, then the dynamic was flipped—like a lightswitch if you will—and the adults had to follow the kids’ direction.

The interactive microsite, developed by MTV World Design Studio Buenos Aires, let users control their experience using the real light of their rooms. When the lights were on, implying the parents were in control, they saw a couple in a bedroom engaging in wholesome activities such as such as drinking tea and playing the violin. Turn the lights off, indicating the teenagers were in charge, and some not-so-wholesome behavior unfolded.

MTV developed a custom algorithm that used viewers’ webcam technology to recognize the brightness of a room, and translate ambient light changes into triggers that navigate the narrative.

The Rule Switcher campaign won gold in the promotional interactive applications category at the 2014 PromaxBDA Latin America Awards.

Save the date for the 2018 PromaxBDA Latin America Awards, coming November 14 to the New World Center in Miami.

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