This year’s blooloop Innovation Awards, presented with AREA15 gave an interesting insight into industry trends. Three key themes ran through the competition this year: here’s what we learned from the entries from 2022.
Innovation trend 1: the year of sound
We’re used to seeing spectacular lighting, large-scale projection mapping, huge LED screens and gorgeous immersive artainment. However, for me, it was interesting that innovation with sound really stood out as a key trend this year.
House of Music Hungary, Holoplot and Spatial Holodeck all submitted entries that innovated with the visitor experience sound landscape.
Holoplot
Holoplot says that its “X1 is a new category of professional loudspeaker system [offers] unprecedented control over sound, more akin to controlling light…Our invention actively supports the next generation of entertainment by delivering never-seen-before acoustic freedom.”
The company won first place in the Creative Technology category and impressed our judges with the creative possibilities it gives experience designers:
- “I have been in to multiple channel sound systems most of my life, I have been following this product for over a year now and am amazed how it allows sound designers to design sound in space. Looking forward to a demo in space.”
House of Music Hungary
The House of Music Hungary, which placed second in Creative Technology, impressed the judges with its innovative approach to engaging visitors with music through sound engineering and visual displays. Judges’ comments included:
- “I like the variety of experiences and different ways of engaging.”
Feel Every Beat
Feel Every Beat from Unit 9 was extremely popular with our judges who were taken with the concept of allowing people to feel music and crowd noise through a haptic vest. Connecting people with sound so that they can have emotional shared and accessible experiences seems like a particularly joyful innovation.
Feel Every Beat won in the Experiential Technology category and came second in the Inclusion category. The judges were full of praise, saying:
- “I love this device, love that people with impaired hearing can experience live music.”
- “This invention is amazing [it] allows people who can not hear to participate in music festivals and events, I love it!”
- “This is something that could revolutionise how some people experience and enjoy music, festivals and carnivals. Bravo!”
Other “sound” innovations included:
- Giving a Voice to Puppeted Walkaround Characters from Beaudry Interactive which placed second in Experiential Technology.
- Acoustic Light Clouds from Painting with Light
- Spatial Holodeck from Spatial
Innovation trend 2: immersive in new places
Innovations in immersive experiences have been a huge trend over the last few years, driven by trailblazers Meow Wolf.
The immersive categories were hugely competitive this year with many wonderful entries. The judges focused on originality and innovation and rewarded projects creating engaging visitor experiences across new places from observation decks and towers, heritage attractions, and a hotel to a North Sea oil rig.
Summit One Vanderbilt
Summit One Vanderbilt from Electrosonic, which won Best in Show and the Immersive Experience categories, blew the judges away on literally many levels with its spectacular location, experiential technology and immersion. This sets a new standard for observation decks. Interestingly the attraction also includes “one of the world’s largest infinity rooms where a 3D soundscape creates a different experience in every part of the space”.
The judges said:
- “Truly exceptional!”
- “Wonderful, modern, love the transformation of clouds into visitors’ faces. Well done.”
- “Not just another “skydeck” experience. What I love about Summit One Vanderbilt is how it takes advantage of the wonder of being far above the city to launch visitors into multidimensional interactions – with other people (Unity) and with oneself (Affinity). The Unity experience is truly unique as a contact experience.”
- “Big wow factor, on my to-do list now.”
Heritage attractions are also upping their game by experimenting with new immersive ways to tell stories.
The Gunpowder Plot
Layered Reality was experimenting with VR in The Gunpowder Plot, an immersive attraction combined with a heritage location at the Tower of London which came second in both Immersive Experience and Storytelling.
Comments from the judges included:
- “Historic Royal Palaces should be applauded for taking the traditional historic venue of the Tower of London and embracing the latest trends around immersive theatre-style experiences to bring in new audiences to their site. I like the storytelling and way that visitors become participants in the story.”
- “A fascinating moment in history brought to live at a fantastic location. Strong attention to detail in the sets, merging with technology in an effective way – really fun and exciting experience.”
Quake
Jora Vision won Themed Environment and also came third in Storytelling for the Quake Lisbon Earthquake Experience. The project pushes the boundaries of a heritage museum by using a host of interactive elements and theming to connect visitors with the story. The judges said:
- “Extraordinary project.”
- “Outstanding job. Achieves the delicate balance between education and entertainment, with a challenging subject matter. Great job guys.”
- “I like to see a fresh approach to storytelling in a heritage museum – using themed entertainment really brings the subject matter to life, has mass appeal to audiences, especially families, as is fun and educational. Visitors seem to be really engaged and rating it highly.”
- “Great story-driven approach with clever use of tech, now on my list to visit.”
Grand Magic Hotel
Grand Magic Hotel from Moment Factory broke new ground by bringing immersion into the hotel lobby, winning third place in Immersive Experience. Comments included:
- “Great job!”
- “Never seen before!”
- “This is the first time I’ve seen a theme park-style immersive hotel check-in.”
- “I like the not knowing what to expect, this appears to be innovative and fun.”
SEE MONSTER
SEE MONSTER from NEWSUBSTANCE is an outrageously ambitious premise; creating an artwork/attraction from a decommissioned North Sea Oil Rig and also making it accessible.
- “This is an exciting project with great efficiencies, twists of perception, marvelous messaging and incredible shifts of sense of place, all to create a reinterpretation of what is and what can be. Such a collaborative effort is immense and complicated, yet shows what is possible with creativity and commitment to shared concerns and hopes. Brilliant.”
- “In a world of metaverse and the phygital it’s great to see something so visceral and unique.”
- “It reminds me in some ways of the fantastic work done by Royal Deluxe and the adventurous industrial creations by Les Machines de l’île. Puts a very unique perspective on location-based entertainment. Compelling aesthetics with a big idea!”
Innovation trend 3: big impact projects in sustainability
Finally, the role of zoos and aquariums in creating projects with the potential for a big impact outside their boundaries was highlighted by two of our sustainability category winners. In addition, WAZA and its members should be commended for their innovation and also working together to create their very practical Carbon Guide.
Zoo Poo
Marwell Wildlife won the Sustainability category with Zoo Poo, a programme to generate energy from animal waste. The judges could also see the potential for other animal attractions adopting the scheme:
- “Very cool – great message, unique program and a very explainable output. Well done.”
- “What a simple but genius idea. Would be amazing to see this entry win and for this idea to be adopted by all zoos around the world who together could have a positive impact. Ditto farms with all their poo!”
- “This is a very exciting project. I hadn’t heard of this approach to handling zoo poo before. I wish that I knew the energy source for the dryer, but I love the calculations on avoided impacts. The project is notable for the variety of scale in designing a sustainable building and macro operations, and the micro-scale detail of creating the bricks. You’ve created an innovation that supports your mission, reduces your impacts, and generated potential pathways for others.”
Sustainable Palm Oil Communities
In addition, Chester Zoo has reached beyond its footprint to engage its community with its sustainability message through Sustainable Palm Oil Communities. This is so powerful, a Zoo enabling people in its community to take meaningful action. And Chester Zoo has also created a blueprint for other communities to follow them.
- “Very impressed by the work of Chester Zoo in this area, through research, influence, partnerships, communication, etc – very dynamic and with clear impact.”
- “This is a strategic project with high impacts for improved communities, practices, and outcomes. It shows steady development and iteration appropriate for innovation that will be lasting and impactful. The layers of the design and the care with which the program was researched and developed and deployed tell me that not only is it successful, but it will continue to be. Sustainability must be sustainable to fulfil its true value. This is truly an example for the field for its specific activity and for the approach it took in this valuable work.”
Embedding inclusion
As a final thought, I felt that it was encouraging and inspirational that two of the highest-rated projects were also inclusive: Feel Every Beat and the SEE MONSTER.
Do check out SEE MONSTER’s session at the Festival Innovation to hear about how they incorporated accessibility into the design from the start and also find out about the lessons they learned. The session is on demand until the end of 2022 here.
The winners were announced during blooloop’s Festival of Innovation 2022. This was a three-day virtual event celebrating the spirit of creativity at the core of the attractions industry.
