The Future Water Story

With a clear vision of what we needed to create, we began making prototypes. Using paper, whiteboards, and eventually rough digital mock ups, we experimented with game designs and mechanics. And what we found was that the most promising prototypes weren’t necessarily the most fun, or the most novel. They were the ones that inspired discussion and collaboration. Interestingly, this aligned with what we’d found during Discovery, which was that the most valuable part of the existing experience at WTP was access to the expert, onsite educators.

Through this experimentation and iteration, we learnt that our best bet would be to use what we would create in the digital world to support connections in the physical one. Our goal would be to lean on and expand the facilitated, in-person nature of the experience, while giving students the agency and real-time feedback they needed to make a difference.

While we wanted to create a story world that students could fully immerse themselves in, that world needed to feel real and relatable in order to inspire change. 

In small groups, students would be empowered to make decisions on behalf of community groups within a fictional town.  With every decision, students would feel the consequences of their actions as they balanced water as an empowering and limiting force in their quest to make their town the best it could be.

Balancing innovation and a strong sense of place, the art direction is designed to feel future-focused yet familiar; scientific precision blends with organic shapes, natural colours pair with bold accents. From the hi-vis vests available upon arrival to the central floor display introducing the experience, each element of The Future Water Story was designed to immerse visitors in the unfolding story.

In order to bring this experience to life, we opted for a hybrid approach. One that could harness the potential of physical immersion, collaborative learning, and real-time outcomes. Visitors would interact mainly through one of six multi-touch tables scattered throughout the room. These tables were able to track up to 50 touches at a time, more than enough to allow our small groups of visitors to interact collaboratively.

In the centre of these tables, at the very heart of the room, was a huge 3.5m circular LED inset into the floor. Groups would gather around this display at the beginning of their visit to watch a Welcome to Country and specially designed Introduction Video. They would also gather together at the end of each decision-making period, when the educator would use real-time game metrics shown on the screen to lead an educational reflection.

After almost two years of collaboration, design and development, we were finally at the crucial juncture: installation and deployment. This involved yet another level of collaboration, as we managed architects, builders, electricians, set designers, painters and more to bring the Digital Education Centre to life.