Blue Alchemy Labs, a creative and technical consultancy specialising in developing immersive environments for theme parks, museums, cultural attractions, location-based entertainment, and live experiences, is celebrating the opening of Te Awa – River of Many Journeys, a permanent immersive installation at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand.
The experience debuted on 28 August 2026 at the museum, which is part of Dunedin City Council.
Blue Alchemy Labs (BAL) acted as the client contact, project manager, and executive producer, while designing the physical experience and its underlying technology, including the projection, playback, and show-control systems.
S1T2 and Colour Theory Co developed the content, working alongside mana whenua throughout.
Visitors embark on a floor-to-wall projection journey through Dunedin Harbour, told in reverse.
Beginning with a karanga and karakia in te reo Māori, the experience travels backwards by waka, guided by Matamata, from today’s working harbour to the arrival of Western ships, early Māori settlement and the birdsong of the waters’ earliest days.
It concludes with the ancestral being who created and cares for these waters.
An ambitious vision
Concept development began with a site visit with mana whenua and Dunedin City Council in July 2025, with a single wall-mounted projection as the starting point.
Early visualisation work by BAL and S1T2 used the wake of a waka (a traditional watercraft or canoe) as its visual language, exploring how the same hardware budget could create images that enveloped the floor and walls, placing guests within the harbour rather than facing it.
Dunedin City Council supported the more ambitious idea, which was delivered within the project's existing hardware budget.
Te Awa at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
Before writing any content, the team spent three days visiting significant sites around the harbour by boat and on foot with Kāi Tahu mana whenua and Dunedin City Council, listening to stories shared firsthand by those who hold them.
Mana whenua remained involved throughout development, shaping the narrative structure, approving the visual style, providing authentic audio recordings for use throughout the experience, and giving formal sign-off at every stage.
Dunedin City Council engaged Aukaha to work with mana whenua and represent the project's interests. Te Taki Haruru, the council's Māori strategic framework, guided the brief.
Designing every element to work in sync
BAL designed the room to evoke the sensation of being underwater. Guests are immersed in the harbour, surrounded by projections across the floor and walls. Low-lying fog makes the floor feel like water, while haptic seating conveys the story’s emotional shifts through the body.
BAL also helped create the content, shaping everything from the story and sound to the visuals on the floor.
Since the experience is designed specifically for the room, much of the review took place on site, where the content was viewed live, and the sound was finalised in the space.
The immersive experience at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum tells the story of Dunedin Harbour in reverse
Five Panasonic laser projectors cover the floor and walls. Ultra-short-throw lenses prevent guests from casting shadows on the walls as they move through the room.
Dataton WATCHOUT manages playback and maintains the show timeline. At designated points, it signals Medialon Showmaster to activate fog, haptics and other effects, keeping the projections, audio and effects synchronised throughout.
BAL commissioned the projection, playback, and show control systems to ensure everything guests see, hear, and feel happens in sync.
Bringing creative ambition and cultural expertise together
A blessing ceremony marked the opening, and both Dunedin City Council and mana whenua have responded positively to the experience.
“Te Awa is visually and technically sophisticated without allowing the technology to overwhelm the stories it has been designed to tell," says Cam McCracken, director, Toitū Otago Settlers Museum.
“Their ability to bring together storytelling, imagery, sound and immersive technology was central to achieving the quality of the finished work....We are thrilled with the finished experience and with the creativity, expertise and commitment Blue Alchemy Labs and S1T2 brought to its development.”
Te Awa immerses visitors through projection, sound, haptics and atmospheric effects
Te Awa showcases BAL's strengths: serving as the client's single contact and executive producer, aligning creative ambition, technology and budget to turn one wall into a whole-room cultural experience, co-created with mana whenua and delivered as one team.
Mike Ross, founder and CEO, Blue Alchemy Labs, adds: “The best technology in a cultural space is the kind visitors never think about. Dunedin City Council were open to a bigger idea, and by working with S1T2, Colour Theory Co and mana whenua from the first site visit, we could show them what a whole-room experience would feel like.
"Te Awa is proof that thinking before you build pays off.”
