SHEDD AQUARIUM: WONDER OF WATER
A Whole New Way to Experience Shedd Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium, an iconic institution in Chicago, invited us to reimagine how visitors interact with the aquatic environments in its historic Rotunda. The goal was to create an immersive, interactive experience that would allow guests to explore aquarium tanks in an entirely new way: from the inside. As always, we jumped at the opportunity to merge cutting-edge technology, inclusive design, and spatial storytelling to bring a one-of-a-kind experience to life.
The Challenge
Strategy
With a compressed timeline, our strategy was to fast-track without sacrificing quality or reliability. Fortunately, our design, production, and technology teams collaborate in real time as a fully integrated agency. From day one, work was planned in parallel tracks, with rapid prototyping of physical elements running concurrently with the development of software systems needed to power the interactives. This would prove critical to testing and refining the functional aspects of the experience in-house during the design phase.
Design
Our design objective was to make the periscopes feel like they’d always belonged in the space. Timeless, intuitive, and beautifully crafted. We designed adjustable viewfinders to accommodate a wide range of users, from standing adults to children and wheelchair users. Each unit would be outfitted with joystick and button controls to pan, tilt, and zoom through a live underwater feed from high-resolution 8K cameras. Interactive hotspots would display facts in an augmented-reality style overlay as users navigated the environments. Every detail was considered during prototyping and testing, from the patina on the bronze periscope housings to the ergonomic handles, which we evaluated with users of varying grip strengths and accessibility needs.
Production
With design and production happening in sync, our in-house digital fabrication team moved quickly from prototypes to polished components. We 3D printed multiple iterations of the periscope housing and viewfinder to test real-world fit and durability before the completed build. Once approved, we worked with a foundry to cast the bronze elements directly from our final prototypes. Meanwhile, our technology team built and programmed the entire system, connecting the periscopes to tank-mounted cameras via fiber and routing everything to a hidden control room. Installation and testing occurred almost simultaneously, with our team fine-tuning every detail on site. The result is a seamless, durable, wildly popular experience guests won't find anywhere else.
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