3D Animals in Aquariums? Sooner Rather Than Later, Please – Here’s Why
Here we go again with a “shall you add high-tech to your attraction?” type of question. The answer will be yes for two main reasons. 1. It’s simply true, and if you are not leading in this area, you will follow others soon. 2. We are an Augmented Reality company. We love to believe and experience that our solutions provide massive value to our clients’ visitors and business.
Look, we are not trying to say that AR and VR experiences are the magic bullet, single-handedly revolutionising the Aquarium Industry, protecting your organisation from ever-growing competition. It’s obvious that most Aquariums are wonderful institutions educating past, current and future generations since 1853 (when the first public Aquarium opened in the London Zoo), treating and protecting animals as closest family members.
So, let me just leave you with 3 killer (whale) benefits that AR can bring to Aquariums, based on 5+ years and 100+ projects of global experience:
Education 2.0
Traditional methods of education are usually failing simply because they are not engaging and experiential. Zoos, Aquariums and Museums have a clear edge in this sense, however in many cases Aquarium visitors are still separated from animals. This reduces the level of engagement, especially when it comes to children. AR provides a completely different learning experience allowing visitors to meet and interact with even the most unique and rare animals directly. Two reactions are guaranteed no matter where in the world we work with our partners: 1. Children and adults are instantly engaged and immersed. 2. Smiling faces appear everywhere.
Infinite Variety
Imagine that you can have any unique animal your team and audience wish for. One of the key client requests we constantly face is the need for a rich and expanding library of photo-realistic 3D animals and scenes. This is why we are working on custom projects and designed all of our platforms to allow remote support and content updates.
Marketing & Merchandising Solved
Arranging a selfie with a seal or beluga for all of your visitors is quite challenging. We get that. Solutions such as our SnapShare systems allow online photo and video sharing and on-site photo printing in real time. This means that while your guests are completely immersed giving high-fives to an Orca, the system creates branded snapshots and short videos of the best moments. These can then automatically be pushed online to a dedicated landing page / Facebook folder and printed / sold on site. The experience is seamless with minimal queueing time. Everyone is happy and no Orcas have to make the duck face.
In short, AR experiences provide the most innovative way currently available to engage, educate and entertain your visitors and generate revenue / marketing reach effectively.