SW tech helps Californian aquarium go touchless
Technology developed by Bristol tech firm Ultraleap has been rolled out in California's Aquarium of the Pacific to support with the delivery of touchless exhibitions.
Cortina Productions, powered by Ultraleap technology, has turned the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Whales: Voices in the Sea exhibit touchless, allowing visitors to control the interactive content without touching surfaces or buttons.
Whales: Voice in the Sea teaches visitors about whales and ongoing threats to their environment. The exhibit won the 2005 MUSE Silver Award from the American Association of Museums (AAM) Media and Technology Committee in the “Interpretation and Education in Science” category.
Using Ultraleap’s camera module and their TouchFree application, Cortina Productions has been able to retrofit the popular, 10-year-old exhibit and update it for today’s audiences. This hygienic solution allows visitors to continue to engage with the interactive exhibit and learn more about our oceans without the need to touch the screen.
The Aquarium of the Pacific is a not-for-profit aquarium that supports conservation ventues such as breeding and conservation programmes, beach cleanups and continuing efforts to educate visitors on the hazards of marine pollution, over-harvesting, habitat destruction and global climate change.
Cortina Productions’ Principal, Jim Cortina explains, “Since we created these Aquarium of the Pacific experiences over a decade ago, we’ve had a wonderful working relationship with their team. It’s been exciting to work with them again as well as our partners at Ultraleap to bring touchless technology to the Whales: Voices in the Sea exhibit. The speed at which we’ve been able to implement the touchless software – days as opposed to months – means we can react to visitor needs and provide a variety of interactive options to help people feel comfortable in a museum setting again.”
Saurabh Gupta, Director of OOH Product at Ultraleap, said, “What Cortina has done with the Whales: Voices in the Sea exhibit is a perfect example of how well Ultraleap’s technology works to quickly retrofit existing experiences and meet the demands of Cortina’s customers and their visitors.”
TouchFree provides touchscreen emulation by detecting a user’s hand in mid-air, converting it to an on-screen cursor, and supporting an interaction method that users are familiar with. TouchFree is designed to run invisibly on top of existing user interfaces without the need for modifications to interfaces and design. It means minimal downtime for retrofitting, familiar interactions, and the system continues to be easy for visitors to use.
Derek Balsillie, Director of AV & IT at the Aquarium of the Pacific, said: “The Whales: Voices in the Sea kiosk exhibit is the main place in our Aquarium where you can learn about these magnificent marine mammals and their conservation. It is fantastic that Cortina Productions has been able to modernize the exhibit by making it a touchless experience within such a short period of time.”
This is not the first collaboration for Cortina Productions, Ultraleap, and the Aquarium of the Pacific. In 2019, they worked together to bring hand tracking and mid-air haptic technology to The Aquarium's new Honda Pacific Visions Theater, the keystone project of their new Pacific Visions expansion.
Whales: Voices in the Sea is a collaborative project of the Aquarium of the Pacific, Ocean Alliance, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and Cortina Productions. The exhibit is sponsored by Pacific Life Foundation.
Learn more about Ultraleap at ultraleap.com
