Making an Entrance

The Challenge

First impressions matter. With this in mind, the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, CT asked us to transform their entrance hall into an iconic, interactive experience about the wildlife and conservation of the Long Island Sound. As the first thing visitors encounter when they enter the building, this new experience had to make a strong visual impact, introduce the aquarium’s core content messages, and set the tone for interaction in the space. The solution seemed obvious – combine a massive window into a virtual world with personal and playful contributions from visitors, all in real-time.

Our Approach

Sketch and Release invites visitors to create a sea creature and watch it come to life. RLMG designed templates based on the sharks, fish, seals, sea turtles, and squid that live in Long Island Sound. At four touchscreen stations facing a 32-foot media wall, visitors choose a template, embellish it with colors and patterns, and give their new animal a name.

With the touch of a button, visitors “release” their creation. It instantly appears on the wall as a 3D animation, swimming and interacting with up to 100 other visitor-created animals in a playful underwater scene from the bottom of the Long Island Sound.