The cause that unites a nation.

Melanoma kills one Australian every six hours. It is our deadliest cancer but, ironically, the easiest to treat. Survival rates can top 98%, the key is spotting it early. Enter IBM Watson. Watson was already working to help skin cancer experts detect melanoma sooner and more accurately. But to get more accurate Watson needed more data.

Data collecting, made engaging.

At Ogilvy, we invented the Watson Smart Mirror, a simple, engaging data collection method. Watson spent two days at Bondi Beach collecting high resolution photographs. We also drove Australians to share their melanoma stories on social media. Every tweet, post and photo helped IBM Watson to better understand melanoma.

The installation worked by having a person stand in front of the smart mirror. When a face was detected then the experience would start with an explanation from Watson about the dangers of skin cancer. A photo of the participant's face was then taken using a high-resolution RGB image from a Canon SLR, and also an ultraviolet image from a secondary camera that we had made for the installation. The RGB image was then analysed to give information about the participant's age, gender, hair, and eye colour. The ultraviolet image allowed us to detect the amount of sunscreen coverage to the face which was then displayed back to the participant on the smart mirror.

“If I hadn’t met Watson at Bondi, they may have never found the suspicious mole and i’d probably still be carrying it around”

— Ian Kelsall, survivor

The campaign received the following industry accolades:

The cause that unites a nation.

Data collecting, made engaging.

“If I hadn’t met Watson at Bondi, they may have never found the suspicious mole and i’d probably still be carrying it around”

The campaign received the following industry accolades:

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