Battle for Survival: an immersive AR experience by Pixeldust for Singapore Zoo's Reptopia, guided by an animated chameleon host.
How do you get a family to fall in love with reptiles? Singapore’s Mandai region wanted a fresh reason for families to visit Reptopia, the reptile exhibit at the Singapore Zoo, and an experience that would educate as much as it entertained.
Pixeldust envisioned, designed and produced Battle for Survival, an augmented reality experience built with Magic Leap. Wearing AR headsets, visitors follow an animated chameleon host through six holographic 3D habitats, with games, a storyline and pre- and post-visit experiences that keep families learning before they arrive and after they go home.
An AR adventure through the reptile house
Visitors explore Reptopia wearing Magic Leap headsets, guided by Icon, an animated chameleon host who appears in person and as a narrator. Trigger cards placed along the exhibits bring six holographic 3D biomes to life, each teaching visitors about reptiles and their extraordinary abilities.
Each station opens a unique, photoreal 3D world that shows Reptopia’s species in action, with their special skills and hunting techniques. Spatial environments and 3D audio let visitors see, hear and interact with the creatures, using a simple controller designed for all ages.
Pixeldust created an interactive microsite so visitors could learn about Battle for Survival and know what to expect before arriving at the zoo, along with logos for the app and the experience.
A free post-visit mobile app adds more about each reptile, selfie filters, mini games and AR reptiles to play with at home, carrying a conservation message about endangered species in the wild.
Every great exhibit needs a guide. Pixeldust designed and animated Icon, a bright, expressive chameleon who leads each visitor through the experience, sometimes in person inside the AR scene and sometimes as the narrator. At every station, Icon’s storyline pauses the action so visitors can watch and learn the crucial facts about each critter, from its special skills to the way it hunts.
The AR experience runs across six stations inside Reptopia, each with an image-based trigger card that brings a habitat to life. Visitors move through the halls wearing Magic Leap headsets and unlock each stage of the story as they find the next marker, so the whole reptile house becomes part of the game.
Pixeldust designed and built the Reptopia mobile app, from its interface and reptile-themed mini games to the AR reptiles players can bring into their own homes, and developed the logos for both the app and the experience.
Inside the exhibit, Pixeldust collaborated with Magic Leap to get the best out of its AR technology, designing a user-friendly experience that lets visitors of all ages watch each habitat come to life.
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