Oméga La Nuit is a nighttime attraction designed by Thinkwell Studio Montreal that was created as an additional guest experience for the existing safari park at Parc Oméga in Quebec, Canada. The attraction transforms the daytime park experience into something completely new at night that takes guests on a journey into the Canadian wilderness through an array of technological, interactive, and theatrical experiences.
Parc Oméga approached Thinkwell Studio Montréal to design Oméga La Nuit, an interactive nighttime experience for the park, with the caveat of creating an experience that could not distract from the wildlife and natural surroundings. By day, Parc Omega is a beautiful safari park where moose, elk, bison, and other Canadian wildlife roam freely in their natural habitat. A first of its kind project for Parc Oméga, the experience at Oméga La Nuit would allow guests to embark through the shadowed wilderness trails guided by soft LED lighting, projection mapping, interactive audio, and more that enhanced the forest in all-new ways.
With ensuring the environment was kept as dark as possible, the use of lighting was creatively placed to compliment the nighttime surroundings and not overpower it. Each of the eight areas along the 1.5 kilometer (0.93 mile) walk was uniquely lit to represent various forms and shapes of nature. Guests depart and arrive from The Village – the only place occupied by humans. The rest of the walk is focused on the nature of Quebec’s forests. Passing through the Enchanted Glade, the festive space begins to pull people from civilization and transports them out to the wooded areas of the tour. Within The Swamp, lights move to the soundtrack flow of frogs and insects croaking and chirping (all recorded onsite). Or in a moment of tense action, two bull elk battle on a 80 foot wide, 50 foot high projection onto a ‘screen’ of conifer trees.
Thinkwell Studio Montréal conceived, designed, produced, and installed this new expansion at Parc Oméga in 2019.
Google BrandLab is a collaborative space for Google to host workshops and various sessions with clients focused on continuously improving their brand’s digital presence. Working in conjunction with the Google BrandLab stakeholders, Thinkwell designed a tech-forward expansion that included developing operational upgrades and design refinements to the interior spaces for BrandLab New York.
Expansions and new designs for the facility’s interior spaces turned what was a once standard meeting space into a creative, immersive, and interactive environment that showcases the latest in Google hardware and software to customers and partners. Custom projection mapping was also installed on the exterior walls of the BrandLab facility, creating a unique and distinctly Google introduction to the space for first time guests.
Following previous work with Google in Tokyo, New York, and Mountain View, Thinkwell designed a first-of-its-kind corporate briefing center that could host a range of customer and partner focused events for Google.
The Grove is Google Experience Studio’s latest and largest space to host customers and partners in Redwood City, California. The concept and design of the space was inspired by the nearby redwood forests that give the site’s city its name, and the thematic story of the redwoods is expressed in the architecture, technology, and hospitality touch points throughout The Grove.
The facility was designed as an authentic, flexible, and innovative space that showcases Google’s position at the cutting edge of technology while also delivering engaging, user-focused design to immerse guests into the Google experience.
From the Digital Campfire, a Google Assistant-powered gathering place created with the latest Google Pixel devices, to the Redwood Trail, an interactive tunnel that uses machine learning algorithms to improvise and play music live, there are countless moments of magic throughout The Grove where Google technology seamlessly enhances the guest experience. Storytelling and guest-centric designs throughout the center provide interactive and playful moments for customers, partners, and Google employees alike.
Thinkwell Studio Montréal designed and produced a two-and-a-half-minute video for the See Forever Theatre permanent installation in One World Observatory attraction at the top of the World Trade Centre in New York City, NY.
Projected onto an 80-foot long moving 3D surface, the film captures New York City from multiple perspectives, featuring everyday people & moments. The film uses images and soundscapes that reflect the gestures, rhythm, and sounds of New York to showcase the spirit and energy of the city. The audio-visual experience leads to the guests’ first glimpse of the city skyline from the observatory, which is revealed via lifting screens at the conclusion of the film.
Director Robert Lepage chose Thinkwell Studio Montréal to create and integrate 3D interactive effects with the scenography of his production for Wagner’s “The Ring” tetralogy. Lepage tried to imagine the Ring the way Wagner would have staged it if he had access to twenty-first century technology.
Thinkwell Studio Montréal combined video projections and virtual cameras that projected computer-generated images onto the stage and décor, creating the illusion of 3D holograms for the show.
“Living Connections” is an interactive public art installation that uses a live data stream in Montréal to regulate up to 500 lighting points that illuminate the city’s Jacques Cartier Bridge. Thinkwell Studio Montréal is one of seven multimedia and lighting studios that collaborated on “Living Connections” for Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., in celebration of Canada’s 150th and Montreal’s 375th anniversaries.
Each local collaborator made a unique contribution to the initiative. Thinkwell Studio Montréal conceived the idea that big data should modulate the bridge’s lighting points and led the development of the data collection, integration programming, and unique software via SENS.ei Data that brought the project’s vision to life. The proprietary SENS.ei Data system allows remote monitoring and control of live data from a variety of sources.
The Thinkwell Studio Montréal team created the idea that big data should serve as a modulator for the bridge lighting program, so as to inextricably link the spirit of Montréal to the illumination. SENS.ei Data collects information from traffic radars, bike sensors, microphones plus cameras monitoring the color of the sky, and integrates reports from OCI sourced across social media and online news through the tracking of various keywords and hashtags. For every particle of light on the bridge, there is a specific piece of data determining how it is expressed (color, brightness, direction, etc). The lighting patterns on the Jacques Cartier Bridge are meticulously informed by big data gathered by Thinkwell Studio Montréalsoftware SENS.ei Data in real time.
The project was led by Moment Factory alongside other collaborators, all of whom brought something unique and indispensable to this project: Ambiances Design Productions, ATOMIC3, Éclairage Public/ Ombrages, Lucion Média, UDO Design.
Réalisations-Montréal was conceived of the multimedia experience for the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino’s Bar Rouge in Las Vegas. Inspired by the theme of ‘message in a bottle,’ the team imagined a slide of dreamy moving images that could be displayed and changed inside 120 laser cut glass bottles.
To implement this idea, the glass bottles were inserted in a metal wall and can display independent video capsules via hidden monitors. This award-winning design incorporates dazzling visual imagery with contrasting colors and textures, with all elements combined through intricate video integration and hidden effects that create a truly unique atmosphere and unexpected guest experience.
Réalisations-Montréal created several interactive features to enhance the guest experience in Manhattan’s first “living hotel.” The project included the design and development of an interactive virtual concierge alcove that showcases content from Time Out Magazine; two outdoor LED clocks with changing imagery; and digital lobby art by Nicholas Ruel, all of which enhance the building’s signature and Renaissance brand both inside and out.
Réalisations-Montréal also created an ambient intelligence corridor for the hotel, complete with soundscape and reactive digital tapestry. The display responds to human movement using reflective wallpaper, motion detectors, projectors, and 3D cameras that capture and project data and movement occurring in the corridor. The interaction between guests and the wall creates a visual tapestry of subtle, organic graphics in this unexpected experience.
Áróra is a first-of-its-kind planetarium film created by Thinkwell Studio Montréal that takes its audience on an immersive audio-visual journey into the heart of Iceland to experience the country’s legendary landscapes bathed in Nordic lights at the Perlan Museum. To accurately capture the aurora in its true form, Thinkwell Studio Montréal also developed a custom 360° camera rig to shoot the film, which consisted of 6 synchronized cameras, to capture simultaneous shots, thus obtaining a real-time panorama in unparalleled 8K resolution.
One of the key challenges of this project was to recreate the ethereal beauty of northern lights and offer the audience an experience that is both scientific and artistic. To understand the science behind the mystery of the aurora borealis, the team gathered data from NASA plus drew on stories and legends around the world to develop the narrative side of the project. The result combines two modes of perception: one sensory, based on natural phenomena, and the other poetic, inspired by oral traditions and myths.
In its final execution, Áróra embodies the goddess of the dawn; her voice guides guests through time and space for an unforgettable adventure. An original soundtrack accompanies the story, a collaboration with renowned Icelandic musicians and composers, Petur Jonsson and Ragnhildur Gísladottir.
To set the scene before the show, the team in Montréal also developed and produced a generative sound installation within the entrance to the Planetarium, where the lighting system reacts to the original soundtrack. This unique environment creates a subtle dialogue between the light and sound, inviting the audience to dive into this fantastic story.