Many of us are not able to physically visit the Arctic to experience the beauty and fragility of the Northern climate and ecosystem. Portal to the Arctic collapses physical distances to bring Arctic phenomena to visitors and encourage a sense of wonder and ecological stewardship. Through large-format interactive storytelling with video wall technology, visitors can explore stunning footage of Arctic wildlife, glaciers, and sea ice vistas that shift between macro and micro scales. The moving sounds of Inuit throat singing provides the emotional core to the experience.
Exploration of Portal to the Arctic is centralized around a UI in the form of abstracted sea ice. Upon touch-interaction the UI activates; separating into four distinct clusters that reveal previews of their narrative themes.
A large-scale cinematic experience that takes users on a somber journey of coastal ice floes, icebergs, and drifting sea ice breaking up and melting into ever-rising sea levels.
The multi-screen configuration of video wall technology provided additional opportunities for storytelling layers. The use of split-screen editing techniques and multi-screen repetition helped tell the story of landscape fragmentation and widespread glacial melt as users experience the movement of glaciers from mountain summit to sea.
The wildlife section begins with an interactive map that highlights several wildlife points of interest. Users can tap each point of interest to zoom-in and observe various marine mammals. The final point of interest reveals a lone polar bear swimming at sea searching for sea ice to hunt upon.
Users can assist the bear in its search for food through a series of touch-interactive zoom markers. Each marker once activated accelerate the bears’ journey from sea, onto sea ice, and then into the distant mountains as night falls.
The bear continues its hunt for food through the night and into the morning, eventually crossing paths with a mother bear and her clubs where a fight for survival ensues. Users are left with a sense of the immense struggle these majestic animals face with each season of diminishing sea ice left to hunt on.
This section provides users with information about the various partners who made Portal to the Arctic possible, and contains QR codes that can be scanned with mobile devices to visit external partner sites.
