The Idea

Memories can be felt, but they aren’t easy to touch. What if you could turn memories into a piece of art by using tech?

Introducing ‘MEMOTRAITS’ (Memory + Portrait) transforming emotional data into abstract art with the help of an Electroencephalography (EEG) headset. RAKBANK (UAE’s leading bank) invited unsuspecting FC Barcelona fans to participate in this unique social experiment, all documented in a video content piece.

How did this work?

The participants were connected to an EEG headset that monitored human brainwaves and turned it into data. As they shared their memories, the headset captured 3 types of emotions. Concentration, Excitement and Relaxation.

An algorithm specially designed for this experiment, assigned values and a shade of colour to each data point. Each data point is denoted with a stroke of pattern based on the assigned values. As more emotional data fed in the program, more patterns evolved in different colors and transformed raw data into art. 

Memories & Art – Our Insight & Inspiration 

So why Art? Art as we know is often displayed for aesthetic reasons but viewing it actively can evoke emotions, thoughts and memories. Memories are all about connections, especially first-time experiences that get imprinted in our minds. It may be a memory of your first love, your first car, your child’s first step…moments that one want to relive every day. But in today’s digital era, memories reside more on our smartphones and on cloud. We as humans crave for physical objects and tangible experiences.

RAKBANK being the Regional Partner of FC Barcelona in the UAE, wanted its Barça fans to relieve their memories of Camp Nou. The thrill of watching FC Barcelona play live at the home stadium invokes emotions, similar to first-time experiences. 

As the fans shared these Camp Nou memories, the data points are visually transformed by associating each emotion to a FC Barcelona brand color. 

Concentration = Blue, 

Excitement = shade of Garnet and 

Relaxation = Yellow

For over 100 years, these colours have come together on the shirts of FC Barcelona players, especially blue and garnet; this is why the football club is also known as the equip blaugrana (blue and garnet team). So these colors hold true to any Barça fan. For these fans, MEMOTRAITS depicts their MEMORIES of Camp Nou transformed into beautiful PORTRAITS. RAKBANK made it possible for these fans to touch, see and relive these memories every day. 

Yet again, a first from RAKBANK that goes beyond banking and differentiates itself by creating ‘Simply Better’ experiences. Being a challenger brand in the cluttered BFSI space, RAKBANK have always strived to innovate and defy conventions. From being the first bank to launch cardless cash withdrawals to launching Skiply – the first app to enable all your school payments in one place. RAKBANK continues to carry the innovation story forward with their 4Cs of Communication – Cheeky, Confident, Combative & Crystal-Clear. As a brand, RAKBANK strives to keep up with the emerging trends with a key focus on making customer interactions more meaningful that goes beyond banking.