TELUS World of Science - Calgary Creates World of Interactive ‘Edutainment’ with GestureTek’s Motion-Controlled Display Systems

April 2008 – The TELUS World of Science – Calgary is a charitable organization whose mission is to ‘illuminate young minds with the limitless possibilities of science and technology’.  It provides students of all ages with the ability to interact with dynamic hands-on ‘edutainment’ exhibits that spark their imagination, let them have fun and also inspire learning.  This organization was looking for something fresh and innovative to entertain and inform their ever-growing number of attendees.  They were particularly interested in two of GestureTek’s motion-controlled interactive technologies, WallFX and GroundFX.

WallFX turns an ordinary wall into an interactive computing surface. GroundFX is used to create interactive floors.  These sophisticated projection systems use GestureTek’s patented video gesture control technology to display dynamic visual content onto the wall or floor.  Users enjoy an interactive experience where they can ‘control’ multi-media presentations, games, special effects, and even advertising, using nothing but hand and body motion.

For this project, GestureTek applied its awe-inspiring ‘Dazzler’ effects to the multimedia content provided by the team at the World of Science.   One effect allowed users to wave their hands over a logo of the facility and cause it to ripple like a pool of water.  In another effect, users’ movements would cause images of the planets in the solar system to bounce around the display as if gravity never existed.  In another delightful effect, children were able to pop virtual bubbles as they passed over images of microscopic insects, resulting in the image being magnified to 100 times their actual size. 

The TELUS World of Science – Calgary also chose to install one of GestureTek’s innovative GroundFX systems.  This visual display system allows people to directly interact with large projected ads or game with gestures, immersing the viewer into a multimedia display.  For this project attendees could cause images of their favorite displays at the museum to ripple like water just by stepping on it.  They could also use their hands or feet to seemingly wipe away one image to reveal an entirely new image underneath.

TELUS World of Science – Calgary was ecstatic about how well the project was received by attendees.  “Everyone who has come and seen these installations have loved it.  Both the GroundFX and the WallFX were huge hits with school kids and their teachers” said Terry Middleton, Project Manager, TELUS World of Science – Calgary