Silurus

Vattenriket is a marshland and nature reserve in Kristianstad, southern Sweden, with a renowned visitor centre standing on poles out in the water. In 2020, the local municipality commissioned us to create an augmented reality experience for their visitors to learn more about the local fauna.

We created a narrative driven by the individual characters of the animals that brings you on a journey incorporating game elements, educational parts and much silliness. Our goal was to create an experience as accessible as possible, something that a seven-year-old, a teenager and their grandparents would all enjoy. We achieved this through a minimal UI where all action is driven by the animal characters and their dialogues, including the technical aspects of the experience.

The project's namesake, silurus glanis, is the largest freshwater fish in Europe. When you meet the catfish, the camera swaps and you get to take a selfie with it above your shoulder to send to friends. Each animal has a distinct personality and something to say. The dialogue is sharp, often funny, and designed to engage visitors of all ages. "This is like an interactive Disney movie!" was a common reaction from visitors.

What made Silurus technically significant was the standardised system we built for character animation and interaction. Rather than placing static 3D objects in the environment, we created animals moved around you and interacted with your surroundings using a real-time generated navigation mesh. This turned the visitor's role into that of a participant rather than a passive observer. This character animation and dialogue system became the foundation for what eventually evolved into the Experience Builder toolkit, now a core part of Meadow.

Sound design and foley by Andrea Abbruzzese. UX and narrative developed together with Lovisa Karlsson of DRY Design.

Originally developed on our Marble platform, a precursor to Meadow.