Imaginary Worlds for Arthur M. Blank Hospital
Creating a playful escape for patients and their families, building off a new hospital’s natural themes
Overview
The Opportunity
The team behind Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital enlisted Local Projects to create a lobby installation that would engage patients and families visiting the hospital for treatment.
The Vision
We sought to create an activation that feels lively, responsive, and participatory. A guiding principle for the interaction was designing an inclusive experience for all guests, including those with limited mobility, so we focused on responding to a visitor’s location and their path through the lobby.
The Approach
Imaginary Worlds is a series of animated natural environments that serve as a window into a world beyond the hospital. Our goal was to build on the known mental health benefits that natural elements can have on hospital patients and staff.
Services
Concept Design, Visual Experience Design, Software Design, Prototyping
The Details
Biophilic Design With Charm
Our visual design of the experience complements and extends existing playful nature scenes throughout the lobby interior. We filled the installation with fantastical hybrid animals that offer visitors a playful escape during their stay at the hospital.
Twenty animal characters and three natural environments transport visitors to a rich, ever-changing digital world.
Following Visitors, Forging Bonds
Months of testing our AI tracking systems ensured that animals stay “loyal" to their creators - even as visitors move to the left and right, or cross paths with one another, their assigned animal will follow them faithfully.
As visitors walk by the interactive wall, over colorful, friendly animals respond to their movements within virtual environments that change every day. Hybrid creatures include a mouse-butterfly, buffalo-walrus, and flamingo-giraffe. They offer a playful escape from the realities of potential treatment and invite visitors into careful observation to discover which real-world animals have been combined to make fantastical new creatures.
The presence of visitors in certain designated stations on the floor activate the introduction of new whimsical animals into a magical forest environment. The installation toggles between three environments - a beach, forest, and waterfall. Lighting conditions in each environment change along with the time of day.
