About
Project Goal
The goal of this project is to develop an interactive experience for the Schrader Center to enrich guests’ visits and promote interest in the local wildlife. Visitors will be able to engage and learn from meaningful content in a fun way, with the focus especially on kids and their families. The experience will also promote awareness and involvement in nature, encouraging kids to continue their outdoor adventures beyond Oglebay’s Schrader Center.
Our Client
Oglebay Institute, founded through the visions of the Oglebay family in 1930, is a nationally unique charitable organization offering quality programming for lifelong learning with a multi-disciplinary approach. Four departments offer programs in environmental education; performing arts; regional history interpretation and preservation; and visual and creative arts.
The objective of Oglebay Institute is to be a leader in its disciplines by improving quality of life through education, recreation, culture and creative outlets for personal and professional growth and enrichment. Grounded in the successful traditions of its past, Oglebay Institute acts singly or collaborates with other organizations; serves a diverse audience; and challenges itself through its expansive vision to continually respond to the needs of its many publics.
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What is our Project?
What we have done for our project is make an interactive experience using the kinect as controls. This experience has been installed into the Schrader Center and will remain as a daily attraction for visitors to enjoy.
The experience if made up of three different worlds. Two different salamander experiences, one focused on eating and staying healthy to survive the winter then the other to defend your territory from invading salamanders, while the other is a dragonfly experience that lets you look at the world the salamander lives in from a different angle.
The experience is started by a special card, one for each experience, that the visitor scans at a kiosk. Once they activate the experience they will spot which floor decal they should stand at depending on their height. Right away they will be able to jump right into the creatures world. They will be guided by Mother Nature on how to move around through this world and what they need to do to be a slimy salamander or a green darner dragonfly.
During the game like experience they will get to take part in fun activities from eating yummy bugs to fighting off dangerous predators while learning more about nature along the way.
At the end of the experience they will be told how much knowledge they unlocked about the natural world as well as getting to see some fun pictures that were taken during their best moments.
With the experience wrapping up there will be a reinforcing message to the guests to continue their adventure learning about nature outside on the trails around Oglebay Park and even in their every own back yard!