By Alisa Moon

Shark attacks are fairly rare, as they accounted for only 439 deaths between 1958 and 2016. However, shark attacks still make for exciting movies. One shark attack movie, “The Meg,” recently promoted itself with virtual shark attacks at an Australian railway station.

Village Roadshow Studios, the makers of “The Meg,” teamed up with JCDecaux Australia, an OOH company, to deploy interactive digital signage promoting the movie at the Southern Cross Station in Melbourne.

The actual LCD touchscreen display featured the movie’s name on the top and its release date on the bottom. On the sides of the display were the words, “Touch at your own risk!” Customers who touched the display were treated to a virtual shark, coming straight at them.

The shark would then collide with the screen, and the display would showcase a virtual crack mimicking glass. Customers who interacted with the display would often jump back at that moment, according to a video posted by JCDecaux.

JCDeaux is well known for its augmented reality campaigns. Recently, it also deployed a DOOH display in Russia to advertise the Russia TV show, “Holostyak” (Russia’s version of “The Bachelor.”) The display featured virtual rose petals that would spin around when users approached it. They could also take selfies with an image of the eligible bachelor.

Another deployment

advertised Ecco’s Scinapse sneakers at the MTR Central station in Hong Kong with an augmented reality display. When users would download an app and hold their phone up to the display, a virtual sneaker would come crashing through the wall.

You can watch the shark attack in the video below.