Ideum and Mystic Seaport have partnered on a prototype interactive application for the exhibit area at Mystic's Treworgy Planetarium. As a first test to examine how Mystic Seaport visitors prefer to interact with technology, Ideum designed and developed Tap-A-Planet. Visitors to the planetarium can choose from a menu of 3D, rotating planets or a menu of outer space phenomena to learn more. A flythrough animation to the chosen planet followed by animated informational graphics about that planet display on a large, wall-mounted 4K Ultra HD monitor. User testing at the planetarium will begin in mid-September.

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Ideum's 3D artists created the planets and flythroughs of the solar system in-house. Our motion graphic artists animated the informational panels about the planets and outer space phenomena based on content provided by Mystic Seaport and designed by an Ideum graphic designer. The animations were rendered as 4K Ultra HD videos and are controlled via menus developed in the Unity 3D gaming environment. The visitor navigates the experience from an Ideum 38" custom "stretch" touch reading rail. These Ideum reading rails have previously been installed at the Field Museum in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

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“Everyone who works at Ideum is a pleasure to work with! They make themselves readily available, and despite a two-hour time difference, we always seem to be able to connect if we have questions or ideas. Instead of treating us like a “client,” Ideum has truly made us feel like a “partner.” We are excited about the prospect of working with them again in the future!”

BRIAN J. KOEHLER, SUPERVISOR
TREWORGY PLANETARIUM AT MYSTIC SEAPORT (MYSTIC, CT)