Visitor Experiences

Immersive visitor experience

Sovereign Hill

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Production company –ThinkOTS

2016

Designer

The greatest migration of people in history, to that time, started in the 1850s after the discovery of gold on the goldfields of Ballarat in Victoria.

Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children left their homes and set sail in search of untold wealth and a new life in Australia.

Following the ‘Great Circle Routes’ from Britain and Europe, the west coast of America and from China, the journeys lasted many months at sea, with passengers having to endure the most extreme conditions, disease and potential disaster in pursuit of their dreams.

Using historical records, journals and news coverage of the time, ‘Bright Visions’ brings to life, through a variety of media and interactive technology, the observations and day to day experiences of these early migrants.

A detail of the painting ‘The Last of England’ by Ford Madox Brown, introduces visitors to the ‘disorientation’ felt by the migrants as they left their country, many to never see their homes again.

Visitors continue in to the space and are immersed in the ocean ‘Journey’. Faceted abstract projection surfaces represent the wide vistas and rolling seascapes, while a stylised ship interior allows visitors to get a feel for life on board.

A projection-mapped heap of baggage shows how the ‘Arrival’ in Port Phillip Bay was no less disorienting for the people.

Then finally through the unfolding story of ‘The Road’ to the goldfields; the alien landscape, flora and fauna; encountering the indigenous people and the unique experience of the Chinese migrants.

Immersive visitor experience

Sovereign Hill

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Production company –ThinkOTS

2009

Art Director

Designer

Awards:

AVIA – Special Commendation

Designed and built as a multi-sensory immersive visitor experience, ‘Trapped’ tells the story of the Creswick mining disaster of 1882, where more than 40 miners were trapped for 3 days before less than half of them are rescued alive.

As visitors move through an underground mine, authentically recreated to represent the construction methodology of the time, special effects suddenly catch them in the moment of the flooding.

As the aftermath is dimly revealed, the story of the disaster and how it unfolded is presented using an innovative 3 layer ‘peppers ghost’ and multi-media space with a reflecting pool as its central devise.

The audience can’t help but be emotionally drawn into this tragic story as they are surrounded by the voices of the trapped miners and their anxious loved ones, to the strains of a sensitive soundtrack.

Interactive visitors experience

Healesville Sanctuary

Healesville, Victoria, Australia

2012

Production company –ThinkOTS

Art Director

Designer

Designed and built as an interactive multi-media experience aimed at pre and prep school children, ‘Lunar’s Secret Forest’ tells the story of the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, endemic to Victoria and the State’s faunal emblem.

Immersed in a ‘magical’ environment, where day turns to night and the ‘forest’ comes alive, ‘Lunar’ guides the audience who, using IR ‘torches’, explore the world of the Secret Forest on the interactive wall.

Alongside this custom-developed interactive technology, traditional craft activities and pledges to stop wildlife extinction, written on ‘leaves’ left to hang in the forest, enhance this entertaining experience.