When most people hear the words, “climate change,” their brains shut off. Even though it’s one of the most important issues that all of us Earth-dwellers need to learn about, most of us are bored stiff by it, or overwhelmed by the problems it entails. The Chabot Space and Science Center sees climate change a little differently: for them it’s an approachable issue with tangible and even fun solutions.

Kids crowd around a retired spacecraft at Chabot's "Beyond Blastoff" exhibit

Chabot has historically been a space-centric science museum, but it recently started focusing on earth sciences to cater to an environmentally savvy demographic (namely, the San Francisco Bay Area). With several humungous star-gazing telescopes on its grounds, Chabot takes the humbling approach of presenting Earth as a unique planet amongst billions, which sets the stage for visitors to be grateful for its natural resources and mindful of its fragility. Their exhibit from fall of 2010, Bill Nye’s Climate Lab, encourages this philosophy by turning climate change into an interactive game.

One of Chabot's giant telescopes

At the Climate Lab, Bill Nye “the climate guy” welcomes visitors and recruits them to join his force of Climate Scouts. As Climate Scouts, visitors get to wear unique ID cards embedded with RIFD chips around their necks as they experience the lab’s various activities. As they interact with stations about air, land, water, transportation, and green building, they earn points by carrying out demonstrations successfully and collecting “solutions” to different climate change issues.

A biofuel demonstration at the Climate Lab

Each person wearing an ID card is detected within the exhibit and represented by an avatar on the lab’s central monitor, aptly named “Seeds of Change.” The Seeds of Change monitor depicts a grassy hill populated by dozens of characters. This is where participants can scan their ID cards and see which avatar is theirs, as well as how many solutions they have achieved. Towards the back of the exhibit, there is a computer station where visitors can edit their avatars’ name and appearance and see which solutions they are missing.

The central monitor where Scouts can see their avatar and points

A Climate Scout names her avatar

Climate change is a big deal, but it’s not the concept causing kids to scurry around the lab excitedly. The real strength of the Climate Lab experience lies in the Seeds of Change monitor, because despite the interactive lever pulling, bike pedaling, and turbine pumping of the exhibit, what really grabs kids’ interest is seeing a representation of themselves on a giant screen and comparing how many solutions they have with their peers. The Seeds of Change monitor is where the complex idea of climate change becomes a simple game of amassing points, which makes for a more engaging experience for younger minds. But even more powerful than the exhibit’s gaming aspect is the concept of the avatar, because at the end of the day, almost nothing is more fascinating to kids and pre-teens than being able to customize a digital representation of themselves. Avatars tie directly into kids’ sense of self-image. Add the point system and some competition and they’re hooked!

A biking activity that teaches Scouts about reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Tamara Schwarz, Senior Manager of Experience Design at Chabot, realizes the strength of these concepts: “When we did the follow-up interviews about the exhibit, we found that an overwhelming number of people – about 60% of kids and adults – still know where their cards are because they have some sort of connection to them.” A second iteration of the Climate Lab that capitalizes more on the avatar concept is underway. It is set to open at the end of the year, and will allow visitors even more opportunities to personalize their experience at the exhibit. Currently, the Climate Lab experience ends at the museum’s exit; the avatars don’t show up on the Chabot website, and the points don’t go towards anything. The new Climate Lab will seek to engage visitors outside the museum walls with a new interactive website and online game: as Climate Scouts earn points at the exhibit, they advance through different levels of the online game and get to experience more personalization of their avatars. Tamara hopes that the new iteration will encourage return visits because the avatars will evolve as Scouts progress in the lab.

At EntertainmentDesigner, we agree that elements of game play and digital interactivity encourage visitors to bring the museum experience home with them. Simple moves towards digital engagement can generate interest in even the most complex scientific topics.

Stuart Brown, founder and president of the National Institute for Play

When I drove up to the headquarters of the National Institute for Play, it seemed entirely fitting to me that there should be a treehouse and swinging rope adjacent to Stuart Brown’s office-in-the-woods. When he is not traipsing the continent spreading wisdom about the importance of play, Stuart works in an intimate, clubhouse-like room amongst the trees, running the NIFP and finishing his second book.

Swinging rope under his treehouse

Stuart's first book

Having already written the book on play (literally), Stuart shares his findings from decades of research on the science of play with institutions, including school systems and corporations, attempting to influence more play-based thinking into their structures and routines. In schools, we need play during lessons as much as we need it during recess. Play is what helps foster children’s personal creativity and growth: “In watching a child’s play patterns, one can see his or her innate talents and then enrich and encourage them. This triggers a drive to play, which leads to better brain development, crafts social play, and produces stress management and emotional regulation,” Stuart explains. He likens the current education system to an industrial assembly line, or a “drill and kill” approach, and emphasizes that play is most needed in schools.

Before starting NIFP, however, play wasn’t even on Stuart’s radar – the concept of play came to him through a totally unexpected avenue: studying murderers. In 1966, his background in psychiatric research landed him the role of investigating the University of Texas Tower sniper, Charles Whitman. He evaluated Charles’ life from prenatal all the way up to his death, conducting in-depth interviews with family and relatives and drawing on brain autopsy research. What he found was that Charles experienced play suppression behavior throughout his life, and as a result, he lacked vital emotional and internal development. When faced with the pressures of adulthood, his lack of joy and optimism from a play-less life led him to hopelessness, futility, and rage. These feelings festered inside him, exploding to the surface in the worst possible way. Stuart went on to study other murderers and began to see a pattern: the lowest common denominator for these individuals was that they did not have play in their lives.

Stuart set out to answer The Big Questions percolating in his mind: why do we play? What is play doing or not doing in people’s lives?

After about 2 decades studying animal play in rats, dogs, monkeys, bears and beyond, he was able to solidify a clinical basis for the science of play. It became clear in his research that play patterns are absolutely fundamental in highly social mammals and humans, and there is a strong evolutionary and biological grounding in play. Stuart explains that play is even inherent in genetics: “Certain bees become scouts, and it is their job to seek out novelty. The genes that make bees scout are similar to those in high-risk taking, novelty-seeking humans.”

The most glaring evidence for play’s importance came from studying play suppression in animals, which had disastrous results:

“If you suppress rough and tumble play during the developmental cycle of a rat and then release it into normal adulthood, it can’t tell friend from foe and is quick to make enemies, it can’t manage stress and it can’t reproduce.”

Aside from its role in social and emotional development, there is mounting evidence that play is fundamentally linked to our innate sense of survival:

“The cortex houses the brain’s higher centers, which are responsible for information processing and consciousness. This is where I thought play took place in the brain. But if you remove baby rats’ cortexes, they survive just fine (as would human infants), and once you put them into a normal rat colony they will still engage in highly complicated play behavior. This means that the urge to play comes from their brain stem and subcortical systems, where the survival anatomy is housed. This same phenomenon occurs in primates as well.”

Editor-in-Chief of EntertainmentDesigner with Stuart Brown and his treehouse

Play prepares us for the unexpected and allows us to better handle the stresses and obstacles we encounter in our everyday lives. According to Stuart Brown, we need play to survive! And play is officially backed by scientific research and concrete evidence! If this isn’t the most exciting news for every young-at-heart, creative, artist-type out there, I don’t know what else is.

Sitting on a park bench is usually a simple activity, consisting of people watching, relaxing, and perhaps some sandwich eating – but not much personal meaning. For Richard Ford, however, sitting on a park bench in the center of San Francisco’s Presidio felt like a walk down memory lane. Within a turn of his head were three major entertainment companies that played an important role in defining his career: Lucasfilm, The Exploratorium, and Disney (represented by the Walt Disney Family Museum).

Richard Ford rides with his sons across the SF bay with the Giant's Stadium coke bottle

Starting as a summer ride operator in Disneyland during college, Richard rose quickly in the ranks to construction coordination, assisting with the grand opening of one of the most revered theme parks in the world: Walt Disney World. After opening, he moved into management of Magic Kingdom attractions and resort operations, and later transferred to WED Imagineering in California to work on construction of Epcot’s most iconic ride, Spaceship Earth.

Spaceship Earth in Walt Disney World's Epcot

Life after Disney was no less exciting, working with the likes of Lucasfilm Ltd during construction of Skywalker Ranch, Landmark Entertainment Group for the creation of Sanrio Puroland, The Exploratorium, Dollywood, and the San Francisco Giants Stadium to add iconic, well-known features to the ballpark. Combined with a handful of International projects, including a World’s Fair in Germany, several destination resorts in China, and a major rodeo resort in Calgary, Richard found himself with over 35 years of experience trotting the globe to create all manner of themed projects.

EntertainmentDesigner.com had the pleasure of hearing Richard’s opinions, critiques, and anecdotes from over three decades of working in entertainment design:

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What did you learn from your early years at Disney?

Above all, I learned the magic and technology from behind the scenes. I learned what show elements family audiences respond well to and what doesn’t work very well. As the attraction supervisor I not only worked every attraction as a host but my main job was to watch over the operation within the theaters. Over time I absorbed every element of the presentation…every dialog, special effect, lighting cue, note of music and so forth. Through passion, firsthand experience, and extensive Disney training, I learned Disney’s core story values: traditions of excellence in good show vs. bad show, the importance of achieving world class guest service, and how it’s all put together…in other words, The Disney Way.

Fortunately for me, I was lucky enough to be transferred from Walt Disney World operations to WED Imagineering (now Disney Imagineering) at the very beginning of the new EPCOT Center design and construction project. Imagineering on Epcot is where I learned the ins and outs of coordinating the creative design teams and architectural processes while technically integrating the design packages into working construction drawings and show fabrication specifications. I also learned the unique creative design, leadership and project management skills required to pull it all together.

Aerial of Walt Disney World

How do you feel about Disney parks today?

In terms of the show experience, I think I can speak for a number of us ‘old timers’ who feel that Disneyland CA has drifted from Walt’s original traditions of excellence, mainly in its operations, maintenance and good show/bad show standards. Not to mention the whole California Adventure “mis-adventure” and the massive property transformation into a maze of confusing streets, parking garages, shopping districts, etc. There used to be a real sense of excitement and anticipation as one visually approached Disneyland in the distance, a genuine build-up (or reveal in theater terms). But now you feel as though you stepped off of a city subway and then boom, you’re at an atrocious security checkpoint and commercial shopping center next to a turn of the century steam train station.

These days there is also an over abundance of hard-rides (that exclude granny), shoot-em games, and over-crowded spectacles like water shows that make family viewing difficult (as opposed to the unexpected marching band and vignettes of small troupes). Crowd control seems to have trumped creating all scales of themed live entertainment.

Another thing is that Disney now seems to focus much more narrowly on the young kids demographic, especially pre-teen girls, in a very saccharine way. For example, my own sons, whom I of course brought to Disneyland several times as young boys, did not care that much for it…it was ok but not compelling. They didn’t see much difference between going to Disneyland and going to SeaWorld, and certainly don’t feel that it imprinted their childhood memories as much as it once did for kids.

What caused these changes in Disney?

I think it is a classic lesson in leadership and legacy transition when an original visionary passes on. I observed this challenge while at The Exploratorium shortly after Frank Oppenheimer had passed. In the void after a visionary’s passing, companies often become risk adverse and find themselves as a big company doing safe ideas. To be perfectly candid, I think Disney Imagineering has fallen into this consequence. Walt led a small company involved in thinking and doing big things, and now with all the financial and creative resources available to WDI, they really have not done anything radically new. They are very adept at innovating technologies, projection techniques and so forth, but mostly in support of somewhat re-packaged story ideas, and certainly not major radically new properties. WDI is the only company on earth with the opportunity to completely redefine the theme park destination experience on a global and cultural scale, but seems reluctant or unable to take necessary creative and financial risk, the same risks Walt had to take to create Disneyland in the first place.

How has the field of entertainment design changed?

From my viewpoint, the process of conceptual design has shifted away from the written word to the special effects and architectural processes. This is a very subtle but profound difference in approach that translates into very different guest experiences. It is much harder to write a show then to visually design, and the outcome of writing is much more about story-telling and heart-felt experiences. Shows that are developed around a special effect or visual gimmick perhaps have a big wow factor, but they rarely create long-lasting memories or become classic and iconic.

In addition I think the industry has moved away from the tried and true techniques of hand-made, full-color modeling, hand-painted artist renderings, storyboards, prototyping and so forth. To me the hand-made work of artists is integral to the visualization, design and collaborative process, and is not nearly as effective when done on a computer monitor. Computer design has its place, but too often the computer has become a substitute for real thoughtful design evolution and involvement by a larger creative team.

A hero image from one of Richard's attraction concepts

Are there projects in the U.S. that achieve “old school” values?

Aside from the original Disneyland, one of my favorite “old school” theme parks is Dollywood for its charm, imperfections, people-oriented staff, and cultural activities and events. Unfortunately, they are also yielding towards hard rides with simple theming, which are quick, easy, and affordable. You just design a mine shack around the entrance and call it a mine ride but it’s really a roller coaster. These kinds of rides can start to dominate and change the audience – suddenly Grandma and the little kids don’t have as much of a place.

I also admire The Exploratorium and Frank Oppenheimer. At the Exploratorium you don’t even realize you’re being told a story – it’s a structured experience that tells a story of science, art and human perception…but think about it: it’s a windowless, dark space, much like a dark ride at Disney. Why? Because the highest order of an experience is to allow the audience to put the real world behind them to become immersed in another world. This is what allows all kinds of magic to happen. The Exploratorium experience holds a lot of Walt’s original principles; Frank Oppenheimer and Walt Disney were similar because both were idealistic visionaries with a deep-felt understanding of the audience. The results of their visions were different, but the motivation for an accessible, family audience-based experience was the same.

You mentioned the mistake of having too many “hard rides” in a theme park. What other mistakes do designers make when creating theme parks?

Many designers don’t think enough about the “park” component of the word “theme park.” A true theme park is a wonderland of landscaping, magical facades, intimate pathways, vignettes of unexpected surprises, places to sit and enjoy the surroundings intermingled with theatrical shows, attractions and rides (gentle story rides with people moving systems to support storytelling experiences, not a park filled with visible roller coaster towers). All this supports the family unit experience, i.e., mom, dad, grandma, kids, teens, all together. Plus the park should be master-planned in a manner to support a structured experience of the overarching theme/story, as well as a secure logical environment that completely blocks the out real world beyond.

Masterplan for a theme park

What are your favorite rides?

Disney’s Haunted Mansion! I opened the attraction at Walt Disney World and know it like the back of my hand – I was often backstage in costume working it back in the day. It has all the magic of old school Disney, as does Pirates of the Caribbean, which was one of the last rides that Walt personally designed and built.

Hitchiking ghosts in Disney's haunted mansion ride

Another ride I loved was Disney’s America the Beautiful. It was a huge room where 300 people could stand in the middle, surrounded by 360 degrees of movie screens showing a travel log about America. The film told stories about local communities and culture set to beautiful music and patriotic dialog. The visual effects of the horizon were stunning and they really suspended your disbelief. It was simple magic – no hydraulics, the floor didn’t even move. I stood in the back almost every night that I could. When the park was near closing for the day, the front doors of America the Beautiful would shut and since it was the longest show (22 minutes), it was the last to let people out onto the street to be escorted down Main Street. I would go in as park manager to watch the last show, knowing I was going to walk with that group all the way down Main Street.

Disney’s current version of “America the Beautiful” is “Soarin’ Over California.” What do you think of that ride?

Thumbs down for me with Soarin’. I find the mechanism to be intrusive, it takes over the show. The dome Omnimax screen that’s supposed to inject you into the adventure breaks some of the basic principles of projection and viewing…guests are physically way too close to the screen to allow their perception of the screen surface to disappear (a basic theater design criteria) and for proper sharpness and contrast.

I’m also not a fan of the gigantic mechanism…so little bang for the buck and it completely negates the theatrical notion of a “reveal.” Guests are slowly loaded, with their feet dangling (as if on a Ferris wheel), while observing a blank screen – where’s the mystery in that design? I much prefer America The Beautiful with its large dark circular theater with curtains rising to reveal the enormous cyclorama. I would rate Soarin’ a C+.

How could Soarin’ be better?

Although it would have been more expensive, I would have multiple theaters (same film experience) but with fewer passengers, a scenically concealed mechanism, larger dome/screen, a theater curtain of some sort, better pre-show…hindsight is 20/20!  It’s obvious that the budget drove the film production: rather poor quality and not much more than a simple fly-over, especially as compared to the story telling wonder of Disney’s other CircleVision stories.

What is it like working overseas?

Working in Europe is marvelous and very straightforward, but they have as much imagination and creativity as we do so a lot of people are interested in doing entertainment design, making it hard to position yourself as the director.

As for Asia, my experience was different in each country that I worked in. I lived and worked in Japan for 4 years in the late 80’s and later worked (and basically lived) in South Korea. The cultures in both countries were very focused on business and hard work, in South Korea even more so. The Korean work ethic was like the Japanese work ethic on steroids! But the people I worked with in Korea were very pro-Western, warm, lighthearted, and generous. (My experience in Mexico was similar: very fun-loving people.) In China, every province was like its own unique country, and the dealings were much more difficult than most other countries.

Sanrio Puroland, Tokyo

What obstacles do entertainment designers face while working in foreign countries?

Going into other cultures, especially eastern cultures, is a tricky deal. Take Disneyland in Shanghai, for example. I have serious qualms about Disney’s design approach there. Having spent a lot of time in central China, with average young people from Xi’an and other cities while trying to visualize theme park destination concepts for various Chinese clients, I believe it’s a misconception that what they want is Westernized entertainment. The client may say they want Disney/Universal style, but I learned that this stems from a perspective of less risk and the least path of resistance. Like Disneyland before, it’s important to put the family audience first and not just satisfy the opinions of project stakeholders. Without a strong cultural, historical and patriotic component I think Shanghai Disneyland may have initial success but limited long-term appeal, especially in terms of its affordability for the mass audience.

Please note that I think the Japanese market is very different, and the Japanese have had a penchant for Disneyland and American culture since the 1950′s, but still have unique cultural considerations. Still as an example, in 1991, I experienced an interesting cultural phenomenon while working on Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo on a show called the Discovery Theater. The Discovery Theater was a $30 million attraction, complete with lasers and special effects. The audience sits inside a large theater designed to be the inside of a spaceship, and the show’s central character is a boy robot called “Digit,” who wore a baseball cap and oversized tennis shoes. As the show starts, the disembodied voice of the spaceship Commander (Digit’s mentor) comes to life saying, “Digit, I must leave for a while and I tell you do not touch any of the spaceship controls, you’ll get yourself into trouble,” and of course Digit can’t resist and he starts fiddling with the spaceship controls and the spaceship theater goes haywire and crashes. The Commander returns to find chaos, catching Digit in the act, and tells him that he needs to teach a lesson for disobeying. Then, at the Commander’s cue the audio animatronic characters of Einstein, DaVinci, and Alexander Graham Bell time travel to the spaceship to help teach Digit about courage, curiosity and other life lessons.

At the end of each show, we surveyed the audience and found that an overwhelming number of parents felt that Digit should have been more harshly punished and not treated to a journey back in time in such a light-hearted way. This was quite a revelation about how cultural mores play a major role in storytelling and design.

The Discovery Theater in Sanrio Puroland

What would you say was your most successful project?

The project I’m most proud of is the giant Coke attraction at AT&T Park I did for the San Francisco Giants baseball club. This project challenged everything I had learned in my career and beyond. I was not sure we could pull this off until grand opening day…

In partnership with Gerard Howland, I spearheaded the development of this attraction for almost three years from concept through turnkey construction on a daily basis. This was my baby and everything about the attraction was custom designed and built with major structural engineering and fabrication challenges. I also played the central role in marketing the project with Coca-Cola and the Giants, in developing the concept, choosing design materials, and preparing management presentations. Fortunately for us, the Giants said, “You designed it, now go out and build it.” With only two employees, I subcontracted and supervised every aspect of engineering, fabrication, assembly, delivery and installation on top of the 25-foot high promenade in left field, all during the overall construction of the ballpark.

The Coke attraction has become a beloved San Francisco landmark and is even featured on the main headdress in Beach Blanket Babylon, America’s longest-running musical review – this proved to us the attraction had achieved icon status.

San Francisco Giant's Stadium Coke bottle and mitt attraction

Richard's Coke bottle and mitt attraction featured in Beach Blanket Babylon

What do you see as the future of entertainment design?

I believe the future of major theme park and family entertainment destinations is a new version of the old concept “EDU-TAINMENT.” Epcot is a pretty good example but did not get nearly far enough. From my overseas experience in theme parks and with The Exploratorium, I observed that most foreign families want to show their children an educational experience, be it a museum, historical landmark, cultural experience, or documentary. But they also want family fun. Education, science and global concepts automatically cross cultural lines and can be scaled up to large audiences, intertwined with story-telling rides, shows and attractions, and appeal simultaneously to mass multi-cultural multi-lingual audiences from around the world.

Ever wanted to go to a museum where touching the exhibits is actually allowed? At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, children and adults alike are not only allowed to play, create, and interact with exhibits, they are encouraged to do so. With a name like “Exploratorium,” one would expect nothing less. Far from a traditional science museum, the Exploratorium has “explainers” rather than docents, a “tinkering studio” rather than a special exhibits gallery, QR codes for Internet and Smartphone interaction instead of just explanatory placards, and a consortium of artists and scientists instead of traditional curators. At a place where there is as much movement and noise generated by the exhibits as by the visitors, the Exploratorium is a place where science, art, and fun converge.

It all started with Frank Oppenheimer, a brilliant physicist who taught science with innovative, hands-on methods. Frank created a “library of experiments” for his students to better understand science concepts, which was his inspiration to create the Exploratorium. Just as Disneyland came into being because of one man’s drive to create something uniquely creative and fun for families, the Exploratorium became the first fun and interactive science museum, fueled by Frank’s re-imagining of science education.

A boy and his mom play with electricity at the Tinkering Studio

Visitors can control this state-of-the-art microscope to view a developing Zebrafish embryo while the monitor records - later, the best videos are uploaded to the Exploratorium website

Today the Exploratorium has about 500 exhibits, and 499 of them are made in the museum’s own shop, which produces a new exhibit every week or two. Science museums all over the world turn to the Exploratorium to purchase or replicate their innovative exhibit prototypes. EntertainmentDesigner.com had a chance to tour (and of course play with!) these exhibits, guided by Senior Physicist Paul Doherty. Paul demonstrated how the displays work, pointing out the science behind each with a sense of wonder and delight in his voice that is not commonly associated with physics, biology, museums, or even adulthood, for that matter. It quickly became apparent that not only are the visitors encouraged to play, but so are the employees! Playful, engaging, and passionate, Paul is a testament to the Exploratorium philosophy.

Paul Doherty, Senior Physicist

What stands out most about the Exploratorium, aside from its emphasis on curiosity, is its accessibility. The machine shop is clearly visible to visitors so that they can watch as artists, scientists, and fabricators use every kind of machine imaginable – from giant drills to laser cutters – to repair exhibits or create new ones. The new exhibits go out on the floor right next to the shop so that their creators can watch as people interact with them.

Exploratorium shop

The exhibits themselves are also universally accessible. It was amazing to watch parents, teenagers, and children engage with the same displays with equal enthusiasm and curiosity. Even though younger kids can’t fully understand the underlying lessons, they are equally engaged because as Paul pointed out, “Kids find what’s interesting to them and connect with the exhibit…It’s ok to do things in different ways to have fun!”

The lesson of this exhibit is that scaling chairs up or down necessitates more reinforcing...but these girls are creating their own experience and having fun just sitting on the chairs!

By encouraging visitors to play and interact with exhibits, the Exploratorium makes two of the most commonly daunting and difficult school subjects – math and science – accessible and extremely fun. We look forward to the museum’s impending move to Piers 15 and 17, a more accessible location where there will be even more amazing things to play with, learn from, and explore.

Exploratorium cow dissection: both a favorite and least favorite for visitors, depending on their level of squeamishness

Christopher Stapleton calls himself a Creative Venture Catalyst. His goal: to help shape the next generation of experiential learning. In our information-packed interview with Chris, we got a chance to understand his vision for the future of education.

Chris currently runs Simiosys Real World Laboratory, a creative think tank that aims to transform education into compelling entertainment. His work combines story structure, play primitives, and game mechanics with learning theories.

Simiosys Real World Laboratory: Dmitriy Dryagin, Sam Neblett, and Dana Mott

Highlights of Chris’s career include the design and production of Broadway shows, feature films, and theme park rides for the likes of Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and Nickelodeon Recreations. His research on “Mixed Reality and the Imagination” has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The Department of Education, The Department of Defense, and NASA.

When most people think of virtual reality, they picture the simulation goggles that have been around for over a decade. But Chris’s work with simulation technology is eons more advanced and has far more philosophical depth. Below, he shares some of his thoughts with us.

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You got your MFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, then got involved in theater and film design. How did you make the move from fine arts to experiential media?

I never thought I’d be in the entertainment industry. After my education in fine arts, I majored in theater because it limited me least: it allowed me to think like an engineer, historian, artist, performer, anthropologist, scholar, painter, and graphic designer all at once. Then, when I realized I had to make a living, entertainment seemed like the obvious choice. It was only later on, when I was working on theme parks, that I found out about all these people that were working on simulation technology as training for things like surgery and warfare. The concept of using entertainment to train people fascinated me, so I started working with scientists, educators, and engineers to really rethink our approach to experiential media.

Computer Generated Model from early 1980’s: “Olympus on My Mind” musical at the Lambs Theater, 46th St. NYC

I started a Real World Laboratory to explore this idea of training. One by one, things started happening. I designed something for entertainment and the military came by and said, “Hey, we could use that,” and the cognitive rehabilitation therapists came by and said, “You know, we could use that too,” and the teachers came by, and so on. The simulation technology invented for one industry transcends its original application.

Mixed Reality Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), US Army 2005

I’ve really been doing the same thing all along, but the contexts have changed. I like making memories for a lifetime, whether it’s applied to training, education, or entertainment.

We’re curious about your experience with theme park design – how did that morph into your current work?

Theme parks in the 90’s like Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure were a good lab for me coming out of New York theater, film, TV, and computer graphics. Doing theme parks, I could finally weave together all these different disciplines: story, play, and gaming. But I realized that we spent billions of dollars to create entertainment just to pass time. The story was shallow. When I moved from entertainment into education, the story became infinite. I wanted to reach a lot of people but with depth and breadth that theme parks didn’t have.

"Psycho" Special Effects Show 1990, Alfred Hitchcock Art of Making Movies Pavilion, Universal Studios Florida

After Islands of Adventure, I started a research laboratory at the University of Central Florida to understand more about simulation technology and the next generation of experience. I teamed up with some pioneers at Canon Inc.’s Mixed Reality Laboratory in Tokyo who were inventing novel mixed reality technology. We used it to combine video games with theme parks and museums, to start focusing on a new media paradigm: experiential media.

Experiential media is the convergence of all media to engage all the senses in all directions, dimensions, and realities. Society started exploring experiential entertainment in the 19^th century with huge expos and world fairs, but it kind of died when we invented cinema. In the 20^th century, all the media technology stopped inviting the audience’s participation.

It seems then that you are trying to change the way we look at learning.

Yes.  A lot of schools are seriously deficient. I grew up loving learning and hating school. We have limited our imaginations so much, and our education system has limited how we develop imaginative and innovative thinking. It’s not a matter of making education game-like. The term “edutainment” is like “dinner theater” – while I love dinner, and I love theater, put them together and it’s not really a great dinner and it’s not great theater either. You should be able to combine the two to make it more than the sum of the parts. My goal is to make learning the #1 entertainment genre, because we really made education boring when learning is so exhilarating. The learning experience should be a non-linear exchange of ideas, actions and emotions that stimulate imagination, creativity, and passion. I’m looking to weave these elements together as the core of education.

Christopher Stapleton Hosting IAAPA at his Media Convergence Laboratory UCF Institute for Simulation and Training, 2003

Museums are also lacking when it comes to education. We can do so much more with museums—the challenge is how to tell the infinite story of knowledge in such a finite space. Also, the most important teachers in our lives are our parents, and museums should not only engage and teach the child, but should also guide the parents to help teach them how to be teachers.

Your latest research at the Simiosys Real World Laboratory examines a concept called the Phydigital InterSpace. What is that?

Phydigital is the blending of the words PHYsical, fiDGEet, and digITAL, to melt the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds, and InterSpace is the space in between users and the digital content where the magic of learning takes place. The concept is meant to cause us to reexamine the way we engage with digital technology in a social space, especially in the context of education and the learning landscape.

Playtesting the Phydgital InterSpace in Laboratory, 2011

At some point, I realized that disembodied virtual experiences have to engage the physical too. But the physical display becomes just a one-trick pony—it doesn’t change. You need to merge the dynamic virtuality with a compelling reality that stimulates the space between the participating people to become a social, interactive environment.

We developed the Phydigital InterSpace after working with NASA on a lunar colony experiential learning landscape called Mission: LEAP, which we’re now designing for museums nation-wide. The Phydigital Interspace works to mix up reality, virtuality, and imaginality and combines story, play, and games with grounded theories of instructional design.

Walk us through your current favorite project.

One interesting project is something I did for cognitive rehabilitation called human experience modeling. It involved retraining someone how to make breakfast who had no working memory because of TBI (traumatic brain injury). We used Chromakey painted cabinets with video-see-thru mixed reality goggles so that the patient could see, hear, feel, smell, and taste a virtual version of his own kitchen within the clinical environment, while interacting with real food, appliances and therapists. The same technology was used to simulate, capture and analyze human behavior so to diagnose, design and apply therapeutic solutions. The way we captured his head position and orientations and recorded what he was doing with visual analytics allowed his therapist to better analyze his actions as he attempted to make breakfast. The result was that the patient was eventually able to engage all forms of his memory (long-term, procedural, sensory, etc), to overcome what he was lacking (working-memory), and to relearn simple survival tasks like making a bagel and coffee for breakfast. It was a type of therapy that he couldn’t do in real life, virtual life, or in any other way except in mixed reality. We are currently using the Human Experience Modeling concept to create new methodologies to assess multi-tasking performance for the Navy.

Human Experience Modeler at the Media Convergence Laboratory

Another interesting project is the “Virtual Aquarium.” Participants put on mixed reality goggles and play games with dolphins swimming around that they can talk to and interact with. We used this project to teach people about sonar (the way dolphins see with their hearing). Each player had their own dolphin, and they would communicate with it by shooting a radar signal to tell it to hit a ball, turn right, or turn left. We had one guy put the goggles on and we asked him, “Do you see your dolphin?” He said no, so we told him to look around. He still couldn’t see it. We literally had to tell him, “Turn your head!” before he realized that the dolphin was “next” to him. People are so used to video games where there is little peripheral perception. Most entertainment cuts this off. In the real world, if you walked around like this you’d be legally blind! With mixed reality we can include 360 degrees of perception with all senses to deepen the experience.

Who are your mentors, heroes, role models, and inspirations?

My Mom and Ben Franklin are big heroes (whatever that term means) of mine because they are both accomplished dreamers. My mom instilled in me my passion and curiosity, as well as freed my imagination. Benjamin Franklin, like me, started with storytelling in the media industry and then went into science, and then inspired the democratization of ideas and innovation.

There are also two people that I have always admired related to my field of storytelling and design. One is Richard Taylor from WETA Workshop. He is the person I always dreamed of becoming. He approaches his work, art, team, and world with such joy, creativity and enthusiasm, and I was fascinated with what he created at WETA workshop. I had grown jaded in some ways about the world of fantasy and design, but meeting him made me fall back in love with entertainment production and design all over again.

Somebody I’ve never met who I have always admired is Terry Gilliam. As a designer, artist and storyteller/director, his independent view and artistic signature is so fascinating and his vision and enthusiasm never dies, despite the challenges he has had. He is an inspiration; he lives the hero’s journey as a character himself.

­­Any final thoughts for our readers?

The real technological breakthroughs of the future have nothing to do with technology; innovation lies in the way we adopt and use the technology. I hope more people open their eyes to transforming theme parks, museums, and entertainment venues more into applied laboratories. Their survival depends on constantly experimenting with new ideas. Designers probably already know this, but everyone else has to get on that bandwagon. We’re so busy replicating what Disney does that we’re no longer truly thinking outside the box.

MGM Experiential Movie Trailer Prototype at SIGGRAPH, 2003

One of the things the entertainment design industry is going to realize is that people who design theme parks are going to be needed for designing hospitals, schools, malls, cities and even off-world colonies. What they do, we need everywhere, whether we realize it now or not.

EntertainmentDesigner.com recently had the opportunity to sit down with Nils-Erik Winther, an executive at Bakken, which is thought to be the world’s oldest theme park. Bakken has been around as a tourist draw since as early as the 1500′s, and we were curious to hear what the park is like today. Here is what Nils-Erik had to say:

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EntertainmentDesigner: What is your role at Bakken?
Nils-Erik Winther: I am the CEO of A/S Dyrehavsbakken – the facility company owned by the “tent-holders” from Bakken. My role is to facilitate the amusement park from marketing, security, and renovation. Our main objective is to attract guests to the amusement park.

ED: What are some of the highlight rides at the park today?
N-E: Our old wooden rollercoaster from 1932 is still one of our main attractions, but also the spinning coaster “Tornado” from 2009 is very popular. We are the amusement park with most rides in Denmark – 33 in total.

ED: Aside from rides, what other attractions are available for guests to enjoy?
N-E: We have 30 different restaurants and fast food booths, as well as evening shows. A lot of business people also have their annual company day at Bakken.

ED: Which attractions have really withstood the test of time?
N-E: The wooden rollercoaster from 1932.

ED: Can you describe the process of introducing new rides to the park?
N-E: There has to be a tent-holder that is interested in investing in a new ride and it takes a minimum of 2 years to get permission from the authorities. We play a role in promoting the new ride in order to attract more guests. In 2010 and 2011 we had no new rides but in 2012 we are going to introduce 2 new rides – a family coaster “wilde de maus” and a kiddy ride “kangabounch.”

ED: What is the business model of the park in terms of vendors and park admission?
N-E: We are an open park. Bakken has 150 different “tents” (shops/rides/restaurants), owned by 50 different tent-holders. We sell arm wristbands so the guests can access our 33 different rides.

ED: How do you keep the oldest theme park in the world relevant and progressive?
N-E: It is our challenge to be faithful to our history and traditions and at the same time be able to have a modern amusement park that can attract costumers of all ages.

ED: What do you see happening in the amusement park industry that you like?
N-E: I love everything about the industry. I see a trend in Scandinavia to take amusement parks towards more entertainment and pre-ticketing shows at night with less focus on expanding the rides. We have in general more of a focus on diversity, not just on the families and young kids, which I think strengthens the park and makes it less vulnerable.

When one hears the word “conference,” what comes to mind is a stuffy auditorium full of briefcase toting, suit-clad people viewing Powerpoint slides of charts and graphs. At the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo in Orlando, this stereotype was far from true.

The first thing one sees when descending the escalator into the city-sized Orange County Convention Center is the glimmering top of a working carousel, a giant lizard atop an inflatable slide, and the flashing lights of hundreds of games. The convention floor is a hubbub of dings, wooshes, buzzes, and other playful noises. Exhibitor booths showcase singing audio-animatronic chickens, roaring dinosaurs, shrieking ghouls, and music accompanied by choreographed water displays. Add to that picture giggling and screaming from various attraction-testers—children and adults alike—trying out the newest zip line models, extreme trampolines, “4D” simulators, shooting gallery games, and any of the other hundred attractions on display.

The expo felt more like a giant carnival than a trade show, complete with free food samples like pretzels, cotton candy, and flavored french fries. Around every corner there was a new bizarre, fascinating, or awe-inspiring sight to behold. For an industry as fun-oriented as entertainment design, one would expect nothing less.

Children wait to ride one of two beautifully decorated carousels

One of many giant inflatable playhouses

Children and adults take a seat to play a game, just one of hundreds to try

A display of Halloween themed audio-animatronics, complete with menacing grim reapers and an intimidating skeleton that raises up to be at least 15 ft. tall

A woman nervously waits to step off of the zip line tower

A fearless 3-year-old tries out the newest jumping experience

Two eager riders wait their turn to try the 4D simulator, which replicates climate changes such as wind and snow

This exhilarating simulator allows riders to experience race car driving with surprising accuracy

A haunted shooting game full of startling surprises

This laser game challenges players to reach the other side of the room without touching any of the beams, including the moving ones...this is the hardest setting

A jungle gym-like ropes course that allows climbers to move along at their own pace as their harnesses slide along with them

A play pavilion almost completely made of plastic and soft materials for kids to tumble and play

A playroom with a constant flurry of balloons

Children trying out coin-operated rides

Looking down an avenue of the stuffed animal suppliers section. It’s a wonder that these suppliers didn’t loose their wares to the hundreds of kids prowling the expo floor

High quality, hand-painted toys on display

One of the more menacing characters at the expo

A company’s model for a “Return of Dracula” dark ride

A scale model of cutting edge water park attractions

Two seats of an innovative coaster that positions riders as if they are riding a motorcycle, holding handles and straddling the seats

Mascots roam the floor and interact with expo-goers

Nestled in the trees on the edge of Lake Merritt and hidden amongst the drab, cement buildings of downtown Oakland sits an enchanting world where fairytales come to life and kids are the ones in charge: Children’s Fairyland. EntertainmentDesigner.com had the unique opportunity to tour the 10-acre park and see dozens of storybook attractions, including the “Wonder-Go-Round,” a carousel with Alice in Wonderland characters, “Peter Rabbit’s Village,” where live bunnies reside in storybook houses, and a life-sized pirate ship turned playground.

Fairyland is not only a fun and imaginative place for young kids; it is also a historically significant park because it was one of Walt Disney’s influences to create Disneyland, as well as the inspiration for numerous storybook parks across the country. Created in 1950, Fairyland thrived until the early 90s, when it fell into disrepair. It then became a nonprofit, which facilitated the park’s revival. Fairyland now thrives with the help of volunteers and donors, and of course, with their in-house departments that range from landscaping and animal care to art and restoration. Annie Wong, Art & Restoration Manager of the park, described her average day as consisting of re-painting attractions, sketching, and imagining ways to keep the themes fresh and exciting. In the restoration workshop she pointed out the life-sized concrete hen she was finishing, which lay in the company of a dragon head made of foam and a plaster version of the big bad wolf.

Fairyland is a place for children to experience classic stories and nursery rhymes through exploring miniature houses and themed tunnels, and listening to story boxes placed throughout the park that recite rhymes or stories when children insert a Fairyland key. On the weekends, the park also offers arts & crafts, storytelling, and theater programs. By far the most remarkable feature of the park is their puppet theater, where Frank Oz once worked. The theater has an impressive workshop of highly detailed, ornate puppets for stories like “Beauty and the Beast” and even “Hamlet.” The theater is equipped for marionette and hand-puppet shows, and uses beautifully painted backdrops, lighting, music, and voice recordings to put on three shows a day, each surprisingly well choreographed and engaging.

What makes Fairyland unique in the world of entertainment design is its dedication to creating a safe environment that keeps true to its original 1950’s quaintness and nostalgia. Michael Flores, designer and concept artist for the park, explains, “What I love most about my job is that I know I work in a special pace, and I’m responsible for maintaining the nostalgia and memories of hundreds of families.” Instead of incorporating advanced technology into attractions to bring stories to life, Fairyland invites kids to imagine and be a part of the story through a more organic, hands-on environment that remains timeless and universal.

EntertainmentDesigner.com recently had a chance to sit down with Andrew Gartner, founder and creative director of Gartner Design Company, which does everything from creating brand identities and film sets to designing hotel interiors and interactive museum exhibits. Just as Gartner Design Company’s repertoire is diverse and extensive, its founder’s background is equally varied. After studying architecture at UC Berkeley, Andrew designed interiors on both coasts, including California, where he was part of a team that designed a movie studio for George Lucas. He then started Gartner Design Company in New Mexico, but not before he designed museum exhibits, film sets, theme parks, and hotel interiors.

Learning about Andrew’s diverse background, it came as no surprise that what he enjoys most about entertainment design is the synergistic collaboration between different disciplines: “To do these kinds of projects, you have to switch hats a lot, and you can’t do it alone,” explained Andrew, “What I enjoy most is that I get to be an artist and share ideas with people, and that the spaces we create can inspire, educate, and entertain.” Andrew is not only interested in the aesthetics of designing a venue, but is also fascinated by the concept of reinventing how people use space, and honing in on what makes people feel inspired and form lasting memories.

What really struck us about the interview with Andrew was his fresh take on entertainment design as a tool to re-invent education. Gartner Design’s recent exhibit at the Halle Heart Children’s Museum is a prime example of this: the team took scientific and health education and made it accessible, entertaining, and even fun by creating interactive learning stations that address exercise, nutrition, and anatomy and physiology as it relates to cardiovascular diseases. Hundreds of kids per day visit the Halle Heart Museum to learn about healthy heart care through hands-on activities and demonstrations, and take part in Gartner Design’s philosophy that learning and play are not separate.

While entertainment design is multi-faceted, as Andrew explains: “my average day consists of marketing, consulting, brainstorming, researching, writing, and sketching,” the overall goal for the Gartner Design team, whether it’s designing for Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, Anheuser-Busch, or the Halle Heart Children’s Museum, is to give back to the community by creating something inspiring that people will love.

Visit the Gartner Design Company website