Beaudry Interactive, an experiential design and production studio that works with themed entertainment, museums, exhibitions, live shows, and branded experiences, is celebrating the launch of the all-new, reimagined Dino Quest at The Discovery Cube in Santa Ana, California, US.
The firm collaborated with Discovery Cube Science Center to develop the $6m Dino Quest attraction, which opened to visitors on 25 May. Dino Quest is one of almost a dozen collaborations between the two organisations.
In this project, Joe Adams, CEO of the Discovery Cube, tasked the team with completely transforming Dino Quest. The attraction originally opened in 2006 and used MagiQuest, a wand-based system, to trigger interactive moments. The reimagined experience uses a bespoke “Dino Tracker” device which enhances interaction, exploration, and discovery.
Valeria Beaudry, principal of Beaudry Interactive, says: “We have a long-standing partnership with Discovery Cube, starting with our first exhibit we worked on for the Cube, Thea and Muse awards-winning Inspector Training Course, which opened back in 2014.
“I always look forward to working with Joe and his team. I know we’ll be challenged and tasked by Joe to create something remarkable, something fun and exciting that will delight and surprise the Cube’s guests, all while staying true to their educational goals.
Roxy Gonzales, vice president of exhibits and program development at Discovery Cube, adds: “Dino Quest has hit the WOW factor since its recent opening in May 2024. Guests relish experiences that unfold like layers of a captivating story, revealing new realms of learning and discovery with each turn. The reimagined land features a virtual scavenger, the Dino Tracker, interactive touch-and-go exhibits, a sprawling excavation site filled with 23 tons of sand, and over 10 newly introduced dinosaurs. ”
Interactive scavenger hunt
Beaudry Interactive collaborated with the Cube’s educational team to develop four unique interactive games that guide visitors on a high-tech/low-tech adventure looking for fossils, bones, artefacts, and more. At each stop, visitors learn an interesting, fun fact about the item that they’ve just discovered.
The firm created the bespoke “Dino Tracker” to enhance the educational experience. This tool looks like a palaeontologist’s field instrument and uses embedded technology to give visitors control over their prehistoric adventure.
The journey begins at the Field Office, which is themed by Cinnabar. Visitors can collect their Dino Tracker and meet their host, Tyra Digwell, who greets them from the field via a huge tablet-themed display on her desk. The display is accompanied by bespoke capacitive buttons with embedded LEDs and set dressing, which together establish the tone for the adventure to come.
As Digwell explains each mission, artefacts and dinosaurs appear in her display case using a Hypervsn 3D holographic display. Excitement builds thanks to engaging, informative media created by Discovery Cube Studios.
Visitors can then use the Mission Hub to select their assignment before exploring the impressive built environment. Along the way, they will discover dinosaur fossils, archaeological tools, footprints, dinosaur skeletons, and dinosaur poo – as well as a hungry animatronic T-Rex.
Scanning graphic panels at each location activates the next task on the Dino Tracker. Visitors are given important information about what they are seeing and take a quiz to test their knowledge before the device directs them to the next challenge.
The Dino Tracker’s digital and physical user experiences are smooth and uncluttered. It features a straightforward three-button interface, vivid, colourful, and concise graphics, and a haptic motor to deliver tactile input at precisely the right times during games. Visitors receive digital badges upon completing their mission and can choose either to continue on to the next task or to play a bonus game to see which dinosaur they are most like.
Bespoke technology and Wow Moments
There are no commercial wayfinding systems for museum experiences which meet all the requirements for Dino Quest. As a result, Beaudry Interactive developed bespoke circuit boards (PCBs) to provide the ideal hardware combination. This featured RFID readers, dynamic RFID chips for 2-way communication, daylight-readable screens, membrane buttons, battery charging circuits, microSD cards for storing over 6,000 bilingual images and gifs, and a microcontroller with over 13,000 lines of code for seamless integration.
In addition, Phoenix Mecano supplied unique watertight casings, while Murdoc Technology constructed all PCBs. Beaudry Interactive then completed the final assembly of more than 200 trackers internally. The artwork on the tracker, produced by b/i, emulates an actual field instrument to enrich the story for the attraction’s young palaeontologists.
Beaudry Interactive also created further challenges, named Wow Moments, to enhance learning and play experiences. Visitors can learn about how palaeontologists set up grid systems at dig sites for fossil discovery, and can “scan” a themed dig pit for fossils using the Dino Tracker. After collecting all of their fossils, visitors put together a skeleton that will dance when fully completed.
Visitors will also learn about how plaster jackets are used to transport fossils safely and the tools used to open them. In this Wow Moment, they will cut open a virtual fossil jacket inside a themed physical fossil jacket from Cinnabar. After successfully identifying the fossil, visitors are treated to an immersive projection, sound, and lighting experience with the dinosaur that they have found.
Beaudry Interactive’s award-winning show control system, Diva, ensures smooth operations on the backend. Diva’s ongoing system health monitoring, startup and shutdown management, and hardware reboots offer operators a long-lasting, hassle-free solution.
