ABOUT

Elemental, an interactive immersive experience where you take control of
the elements to create something amazing… interact with the elements on a magical multisensory journey of discovery through an intriguing digital world in which magic meets alchemy and alchemy meets science.

”The Ancient Greeks saw the world as comprised of four elements – Earth, Air, Fire, and Water (with Aristotle adding a fifth, Aether) that were thought to explain the nature and complexity of all matter and to be essential to life. Times have changed. We now have atomic theory, with atoms classified into more than a hundred chemical elements. Yet echoes of the old theory reverberate to this day and scientists admit we still don’t know everything; there is still some mystery in our world.”

IN MORE DETAIL - The experience and how we created it

The execution combined many technical and creative skills. Including the design and development of custom software, bespoke wind sensor units, data-driven real-time animation, script/narrative development, quadrophonic sound, prop design for both the pillars and pool and finally the overarching AV system for delivery. This took creative, technical and innovative thinking, whilst holding the story and experience front and centre during the delivery.

The creative was projection-mapped into the space, blending two overhanging projectors to avoid audience shadows from blocking out the content. The experience was controlled by wind sensors held within glowing pillars at the 4 corners of the room. In the centre of the space was a pool emitting fog, stars pouring outwards from the centre. Quadrophonic sound swept around the space.

The audience was encouraged to sit around the pool at the beginning of the experience and would begin by playing with the light and the fog as they adjusted to the environment. A selection of electrical and paper fans sat around the pool. In their own time, the audience would naturally begin to venture outwards to investigate the glowing poles at each corner, experimenting with what they may do… and discovering that blowing air towards the pillars brought that element into the space with visuals and sound pouring outwards from the pillar, the stronger the flow of air the louder the musical note and sound effect, and the greater the visual…

Encouraging collaboration, if all of the four elements were played in harmony, a chord was struck, and the magical and mysterious 5th element Aether was released into the space, with the classical elements drawing onto the floor, and nature filling the space, including a whale that swam beneath your feet, and butterflies and birds that flew around the space. Each time Aether was triggered a different animal would appear with the classical elements.

The narrative and flow of the experience included onboarding to introduce the audience to the mysterious experience ahead of them before they entered the space.

An excerpt from the onboarding script:

“As a species, humans have always been searching for the building blocks that make up the world around us. We used to believe that the elements were magic, too difficult to imagine or explain. When the first scientists came along to figure out what the universe was made of, they thought about what was essential to life and decided on four elements. We need earth to live on and grow things from; we need air to breathe, we use fire to cook and keep us warm; and we need water to drink, to travel and simply to exist.

These four classical elements, earth, air, fire and water, are essential for survival. We felt that they were the building blocks for everything in our world, well, nearly everything. We missed that magical element that explained things outside our world, the things we couldn’t touch or describe. One of the most famous ancient scientists, Aristotle, called this fifth element, aether.

As you move into the space today we want you to put yourselves into the shoes of those first scientists…”

And a storytelling piece afterwards, which had room for questions and conversation between the audience and the science festival host.

An excerpt from the offboarding script:

“Congratulations! You have successfully built on the work of the first scientists combining the four elements to find aether. From disparate parts you have built something whole. Scientists today have continued this process of discovery, using work from the past to improve our understanding of what is around us, to continue to explore and wonder…

We know today that our world is not made of these four elements, earth, air, fire and water, but of many, many more. Does anyone know how many elements we have today?..”

Elemental ran in both 2021 and 2022. The Covid restrictions were a challenge we worked with, shaping aspects of the delivery to allow people to enjoy a well-needed, uplifting, magical and educational group experience.

MADEIT CREDITS

  • Edinburgh International Science FestivalClient
Annual 2022 People's ChoiceElemental - Interactive Immersive ExperienceWave Annual 2022 ShortlistElemental - Interactive Immersive ExperienceExperiential Project featured: on 20th July 2022 Contributor:

Bright Side Studios has been a Contributor since 25th November 2015.

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ELEMENTAL

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