Aquar

Date

2011

Designer

Nayong Park

AQUAR is a physical installation situating interactive narratives about marine pollution in a live aquarium. AQUAR aims to educate middle school students about threatened species of the sea, promoting awareness and, potentially, propagation of sea species. AQUAR will talk about marine pollution to educate audiences by using an interactive interface. Through active participation, users’ engage with the interface, which is designed to enhance user interests and attention for their understanding and appreciation of AQUAR’s narrative based story.

Significance

I researched how the exhibition design of the aquariums interacts with audiences, and considered the key problems. Aquariums in my research have various interactive activities such as feeding or touching features in touch pools. These participatory exhibitions cause new user experience and emotional interactions between features and audiences. It is a good chance for audiences to get close to sea features. But these physical activities focus on specific touchable sea features such as turtles, sea stars, and penguins. This interactive feature of the aquarium excludes the fish section.

Fish aquariums are constructed with text information based display method, which is a traditional institutional exhibition. The exhibition place is dark because it mimics the conditions of the fishes’ environment. Aquariums use an information panel that is based on a light glow system. The information panel could be read in the dark, but the bright information panel also has the effect of drawing attention away from the main focus of the fish. This exhibition design disperses audiences’ attention and interests. AQUAR try to negate the negative effects of the exhibition designs by studying other ways to present interactive, memorable, and participatory exhibitions.

Narrative

The interface of AQUAR is based on the narrative story. AQUAR is a secret place of wisdom of crystals, which have the most powerful knowledge and protect life of the sea. Wisdom crystals always monitor and manage the marine condition to preserve sea of world since the world existed. But wisdom crystals are losing their great power, and scarified from Marine pollution, includes a range of threats including from land-based sources, oil spills and untreated sewage.

The growing numbers of environmental crises are out of control to protect with only powers of the wisdom crystal. Only one of wisdom crystal survives in AQUAR. The wisdom crystal will reveal the crisis of AQUAR, and teach you how the marine pollution are threatening environment through interactive simulation.

User Process Scenario

STEP1

Users first read the instructions on how to control AQUAR that is placed above the track pad. “Place your finger on the track pad, and ask the wisdom crystal about marine pollution”.

STEP2

Users start to use their finger on the track pad, and click the spinning wisdom crystal on the interface.

STEP3

The crystal will generate the narrative based story about the background of AQUAR with voice over sound, and additional information about the history of AQUAR. The backdrop layer will present a simple visual animation that is related to the narrative script.

STEP4

After listening to the background story, users can access more related images and information about marine pollution through the foreground layer. If users want to hear more detailed information about marine pollution, they can choose one of the categories of marine pollution by clicking on one of the garbage bins.

STEP5

Each garbage bin contains stories about oil spills, marine debris, and untreated sewage disposal. The narrative content will present categories of marine pollution.

STEP6

After experiencing the narrative story, the audience gets specific information about each category of marine pollution through the foreground layer. When the audience clicks on one of the garbage bins a new narrative based story will be displayed on the backdrop screen. The information will present facts of marine pollution and what the solution is with visually organized information. More detailed information about each category will be discusses in the categories of marine pollution.

STEP7

After taking in more details about marine pollution, audiences have a chance to share their ideas and attend communities of AQUAR. The last page of the information panel will show you how to communicate with AQUAR through Twitter. When a user approaches the last page of information panel on the foreground, a small fish will swim around the AQUAR holding an envelope. If the user clicks the fish, the envelope will be opened, and show how to leave feedback, cheerful messages, and opinions to promote information about marine pollution through social networking.

STEP8

The back of AQUAR is to display audiences’ communities to share ideas about marine pollution and leave feedback on AQUAR. The data will be collected through a Twitter widget. Audiences can upload their opinions through their smart phones. The contact information for twitting with AQUAR can be found on the front interface of AQUAR. Audiences can use the track pad to appreciate other audiences’ messages for marine pollution.

RESEARCH

aquar_research_5

How can audiences better understand about the danger of marine pollution through narrative and technology?

Aquariums have evolved from living menageries and natural history collections into major cultural institutions of the 20th century providing information and environmental education in a non-threatening and informative manner. However, in response to the growing number of environmental crises threatening aquatic and marine species, Aquariums in the 21st century face an expanded role to conservation education and propagation of threatened species. My thesis works aims to promote the awareness of marine pollution through narrative based storytelling.

Through user participation on AQUAR, audience will be able to rethink about marine pollution, and have a chance to attend in AQUAR communities, share their opinions and promote the awareness to others through twitter. So, audience’s behaviors after participating on AQUAR are the most important for this project.

STRUCTURE

new_methodology1

The hardware part has two small projectors that create a water textured movement on the floor of the aquarium. This part supports not only the light inside of the aquarium, but also presents the background of AQUAR. The structure is designed so that two audiences can interact with the exhibition at the front and back of the structure.

STRUCTURE

aquar_interface

The structure consists of three parts: the display part, the controller part, and the hardware part. The first is the display part. To make the reflected backdrop screen, LED monitors are installed on the top of the structure. Audiences can visually interact with the aquarium on the front and back of structure. The second part, the controller, helps the audience to participate with the exhibition through a tracking pad. The audience can easily use the track pad like a mouse controller on the interface of AQUAR.
The hardware part has two small projectors that create a water textured movement on the floor of the aquarium. This part supports not only the light inside of the aquarium, but also presents the background of AQUAR. The structure is designed so that two audiences can interact with the exhibition at the front and back of the structure. The setting of the objects makes the environment a secret place for the wisdom crystal.

This is the objects list:

Crystal stones (role as dead crystal)

3 Garbage bins (symbol of marine pollution, and buttons to manage the interface)

2 Live fish (exhibition objects)

Corals, Plants (decoration to make a stage for AQUAR)

The second layer is a backdrop to display the narrative system screen. This layer will display a narrative based video according to user choice on the interface. The last layer is the foreground screen. It will be the main narrative system of AQUAR. Users will control the narrative story on this layer interface.