Nat Geo
Ultimate Explorer
Interactive Creative Direction & Development
National Geographic Ultimate Explorer
Turning kids into Nat Geo photographers and roboticists through the magic of immersive digital technology
I wore several hats on this three-year project, including Creative Director and Technical Director, in addition to designing and development several attractions and digital components.
As the creative and technical director on the projects, I directed several interactive teams in the development of at least 22 different digital components, across the entire family entertainment center theme park - this included 15 guest different attractions. The software ranged in technology - Node.js-based servers, Unity3D Virtual Reality interactives, Unreal Engine life-size projection shows, integration with motion simulator platforms, RFID activations, and more. Across all these various touch-points, I developed a central guest engagement system, based in Node.js, to manage every guest’s points earned at each of the immersive experiences, and integrated into the park-wide point-of-sale systems.
Roles:
Interactive Creative Director, Interactive Technical Director
Locations:
Shenyang, China
Metepec, Mexico
Client:
iP2Entertainment, Amsterdam
Launched:
2018
The concept for Photo Safari was simple: have cameras stationed around the park, and when a guest tags into the camera with their RFID wristband, we activate a unique virtual photography experience that explores 7 different biomes ranging from the Sahara to the jungles of China, with lions, pandas, even an Alamosaurus!
A great Nat Geo photo isn’t easy to capture, you have to wait for just the right moment, not scare away the animals, and look at every detail to see where a great photo can emerge - I used this as a basis to gamify the VR photo shoot, so a guest’s patience pays off in unique digital achievement badges.
Photo Safari is one of the favorite activities in the park - it’s simple, easy, fun, and quick, so guests can engage with it on the way to another attraction.
Overview:
15-minute, real-time 3D animation activity for 30 guests at a time. Ages 7 and up.
Roles:
Creative Direction, UX Design, UI Design, Technical Direction, Service Design, Room Design.
Technology:
Unity, RFID, Projection
Digital technology is at its best when paired with classic, hands on interactivity that kids (and adults) find second nature. I also wanted to tell a story in a new way, in a medium (sand) that was untraditional for storytelling. This is where I began with the design of Terra Studio, National Geographic Ultimate Explorer’s augmented reality sandbox experience.
Terra Studio used 3D depth sensing cameras mounted high above 9 separate sandboxes. These sensors are paired with high definition projectors and project water, animals, flora, weather systems, and more, right on the sand in a way that is not only convincing, but magical. I worked with a great vendor that had an existing projection sandbox experience, and I directed a new form of gameplay and visual design to the basic concept.
Educational challenges throughout the interaction integrate with the park’s digital Field Journal to create a unique learning and play experience for the whole family.
Overview:
15-minute, real-time 3D animation activity for 30 guests at a time. Ages 7 and up.
Roles:
Creative Direction, UX Design, UI Design, Technical Direction, Service Design, Room Design.
Technology:
Unity, RFID, Projection
I wanted to create an AR-enhanced, robotics programming adventure. The idea was to teach guests that Nat Geo sometimes uses robots to go to the most extreme locals - places that are too dangerous for human explorers - and the guest will have to program the robot to navigate one of several augmented reality landscapes (mapped to physical props on the table top), using augmented reality attachments.
Immediately, this proved to be a fun combination of technology - robots, AR, and iPads with mapped virtual props!
I programmed the initial prototype using C# and Unity3D. I began by using a simple Arduino-based robot, and used a fiducial marker (we did not yet have stable non-marker AR tracking on iOS). I also wanted to create a large play area for the robot and AR effects, so I employed a wide-angle iPad lens. During prototype development, I created a JavaScript-based tool to communicate to the Arduino-based robot, and developed a C-based API on the Arduino to accept commands from JavaScript on the Web, as well as through Unity3D through an iPad Pro.
Overview:
Teach programming through robotics, AR and visual coding. Ages 7 and up.
Roles:
Creative Direction, Technical Direction, Prototyping
Technology:
Unity, RFID, AR, Arduino
I wanted to create a deeper engagement for our guests at National Geographic Ultimate Explorer through an RFID wristband system – a simple skill tree, guest-tailored missions throughout the park, closer storytelling tie-ins with the different attraction stories and characters, and interleaving educational elements into the digital engagement to accompany the different attraction’s entertainment content.
This culminated in the Base Camp Field Journal. It features hundreds of attraction-specific achievement badges that guests can earn throughout there day at the park, as well as mission card that challenged guests to answer educationally-relevant questions about animals, science, and conservation. The Field Journal is a personalized digital record of a guest’s amazing journey through NGUX.
I designed and directed the Field Journal software as well as the Outfitter Station magic mirrors - giant displays that track a guest’s skeletal movements and, based on the achievements they earned, turns the guest (virtually) into several types of explorers, with their face and movements tracked in real-time with included selfie cam.
Overview:
Guest engagement system tracks points and photos throughout the park experience.
Roles:
Creative Direction, UX Design, UI Design, Technical Direction, Service Design, Room Design.
Technology:
Unity, RFID, Touch-screens, 3D Sensors
Over this multi-year effort, I worked with amazing people at National Geographic, and directed great designers, engineers, and vendors all over the world. We built something truly unique and special.
