Squint/Opera, the creative studio, was commissioned in collaboration with Sarner International, the leading experiential design expert, to create immersive digital media for the new visitor experience at The Peak Tram in Hong Kong.
One of Hong Kong’s most recognisable tourist destinations and the oldest funicular in Asia, the Peak Tram has been taking people to the top of Victoria Peak since 1888 and now carries six million people annually. This significant upgrade programme for the Peak Tram cost HK$799 million and included the renovation of the Central and Peak Termini. There are also new Swiss-designed 6th-generation tram vehicles.
The update also features an audio-visual display at the Peak Terminus and five zones that are designed to be engaging at the Central Terminus. The project’s objectives were to minimise passenger wait times by more than 70% while fostering an exciting and fulfilling visitor experience.
The Beating Heart and Once Upon a Tram
Several installations were developed: The Beating Heart, Once Upon a Tram, Go Wild at The Peak and Upper Terminus.
When passengers arrive at the central terminus, they are welcomed by the haulage room exhibit known as the Beating Heart. This installation creates the appearance that the vintage machinery is once again dragging the tram up the mountain by casting projection mapping and lighting effects on haulage equipment.
Plus, projections of an educational short film by Squint highlight the technological context of the tram’s development over the course of its four technological eras: steam, electric, microprocessor, and modern.
In the waiting area between the main entrance and the ticketing desks, there is an audiovisual work called Once Upon a Tram. The exhibit features Squint’s film, which is based on the Peak Tram archive and uses historical film, images, and text to create dynamic animations that let viewers relive significant moments in the tram’s colourful history. The social history, historical turning points, and technological advancement of the tram from 1888 to the present are highlighted in this digital timeline.
Go Wild at the Peak
Visitors then walk through Go Wild at the Peak, the final media attraction before boarding the Peak Tram, before boarding the tram. As part of the queue management process to inform the waiting tourists and pique their interest in the upcoming Peak Tram experience, the task at hand was to create an animated, enchanting world of growing flora and fauna, a peaceful dreamscape lasting about 8 minutes.
This exhibit offers a completely immersive, 360-degree video experience. Hyper-realistic renderings of the woodlands, vegetation, and fauna are displayed on wall- and ceiling-length LED screens, which also reflect and convey Victoria Peak’s natural splendour.
The Unreal gaming engine was used to create the 3D digital rendering of the forest. With Unreal, the firm was able to construct, scale, view, alter, and control every component of the design in real-time. The team could also implement modifications rapidly and communicate effectively with the customer, who had a similar VR system installed to provide feedback, thanks to the engine’s exceptional power, which allowed even the final version of the most complex media panel to render quickly.
Before any of the LED walls and ceilings were constructed on-site and thus available for testing, one of the largest problems was to conceive and create a relatively finished experience. In order to comprehend how the experience might be impacted by varying visitor counts, the Squint/Opera team replicated everything in the Virtual Twin and ran several crowding scenarios. This in turn affected the selection of animations that were employed; for example, many flying and climbing creatures were excellent because, during busy times, the upper-side panels and the ceiling panels are the most visible areas of the show.
Numerous archival assets, with an emphasis on historical accuracy, were contributed by the client. Squint/Opera then converted this massive amount of archive and modern content into comprehensible and interesting content for the media shows.
In order to improve the hyper-real woodland, the firm also undertook a thorough internal assessment of all the plant and animal species that make up the Peak Forest. Precision was crucial, and the client’s experienced botanists and zoologists double-checked the findings.
Upper Terminus
When passengers arrive at Victoria Peak to depart, this AV installation welcomes them, playing a film by Squint/Opera that highlights the different things the peak has to offer. It also draws attention to the considerable engineering and cosmetic improvements made to the Peak Tram recently.
As well as satisfying the needs of locals by avoiding repeat presentations aimed at tourists—the media is highly dynamic, so visitors never quite watch the same thing twice—the firm’s additions create a visitor experience that engages visitors in the history, engineering, and natural surroundings of the Peak Tram. By combining information, entertainment, and a general sense of the location as a significant component of Hong Kong’s fabric, this well-rounded approach results in a holistic experience for passengers.
“The implementation of the Virtual Twin was transformational on this project,” says Vadim Charles, creative director at Squint/Opera. “Using a real-time engine for the content creation but also for our reviews in VR meant we could understand the qualities and constraints of the space, design the experience accordingly and work more efficiently.
“It is also incredible to think that the whole project was designed and produced remotely during the Covid pandemic. While it obviously had its own set of challenges, the Virtual Twin approach was a real advantage for the Squint Team but also for the client.”
Squint/Opera’s work with Casson Mann on Jodrell Bank’s First Light Pavilion was recently recognised with third place in the Spectacular category of the blooloop Innovation Awards.
All images courtesy of Squint/Opera unless otherwise stated
