Archive

Custom House

The Custom House witnessed not only the development of a great city, but also some of the most turbulent milestones in its history. The building was destroyed by burning in 1921 and later restored to its former splendour.

The stories of the building, burning and restoration of Dublin’s Custom House are brought to life in this fascinating exhibition, revealing a rich, many-layered story that spans over 200 years.

Working closely with the OPW and exhibition designers Bright, Thought Different produced over 17 different interactive, audio visual and immersive spaces for the centenary of the burning of the Custom House in 1921.

Patrick Kavanagh Centre

Opened just at the beginning of the first ‘lockdown’ in 2020, the newly renovated visitor centre in Inniskeen, County Monaghan houses a unique exhibition about the life and works of one of Ireland’s most famous poets, Patrick Kavanagh. Working with Make and Monaghan County Council we were awarded the tender for the interactive creation and design throughout the centre.

The old church, where Kavanagh was baptised, has been transformed into a permanent exhibition about the poet. Our work included a series of interactive touchscreens that help interpret the artefacts on display and also document his influences, personal life and poems created over six key stages of his life.

Another two large interactive screens explore the geography of the poets life. ‘Kavanagh Country’ highlights locations around Inniskeen where he grew up and highlights the Kavanagh Walking trail. It also delves into locations that are featured in his poetry. ‘Kavanagh’s World’ interactive explores his wider travels, from living in London to his trips to America and beyond.

Touch screen displays reveal documents, photos and information on Kavanagh's life and times...I've been waiting quite a while to get the chance to come and see it and urge anyone reading this to do the same.

TripAdvisor

The Race to 2050

The Race to 2050 at The Cool Planet Experience marks Thought Different’s most complex installation to date. Race to 2050 is a unique multi-user immersive experience designed to teach children about their own impact on the planet’s climate. By playing a series of games they learn how small differences in their daily lives can effect their cities of the future. Working with DMW Creative, we were responsible for coming up with the original concept and taking the interactives through storyboarding, scripting, wire-framing; through to delivery.

The Experience

Nine games were designed to illustrate key issues. Each of these 45 second games were created with three goals in mind. Only one sentence could describe to the user how to play; it had to subtly illustrate the problem at hand (eg. wasted food in supermarkets) and it had to be fun but challenging. The result has been a resounding success with children and adults alike.

On completion of a set of three games they are then rewarded for their hard work. The voice over explains how they have made a difference to the city and are shown the improvements as the city changes in front of them. For example after the transport sequence of games the traffic is greatly reduced, bus lanes and cycle paths appear with cyclists and public transport corridors. Car parks are replaced with green spaces and dirty petrol stations are converted to charging stations for electric cars. All these changes appear right in front of their eyes on the huge 8m 3D printed model through the use of projection mapping.

The entire experience lasts just over 15 minutes. However nobody notices the time passing and a common reaction during testing was simply – “Can we play it again?”.

By merging a creative idea with software and innovative technology, we can see we have achieved a huge goal. Helping children learn about big issues without them realising it; they think they are just having fun. Thought Different was nominated for Best Creative and won the award for Best Technology Innovation at the 2018 Digital Media Awards for their work on Race to 2050.

An excellent idea and use of technology to teach people (especially children) of the effects of climate change and how to protect our environment. The strategy is crystal clear from the start and the design of the set, the games, the video, voice-over, etc., is clear. I believe the results of this Race to 2050 experience will be huge...

... this Cool Planet thing is the best education-by-stealth experience we’ve ever had. I’d go as far as to say it was the best family outing we’ve ever been on.

Róisín Ingle — The Irish Times

Absolutely amazing games and projection mapping onto a model city with a fictional future goal...

Judges’ Comment — DMAs 2018

Visit Dublin

Thought Different designed and programmed all the interactive exhibits in Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Visit Dublin’ tourist information office on Suffolk Street, Dublin.

30 Megapixel Video Wall

A large video wall shows specially commissioned 30 megapixel images of some of Dublin’s key attractions. The custom made software animates the entire wall at 60 fps processing over 1.4 billion pixels per second.

Interactive Maps of Dublin

Thought Different designed interactive maps to help the guides show people places of interest across the city. Eight kiosks dotted around the space are filled with up-to-date information which syncs every night with Failte Ireland’s servers.

Social Media Wall

Using the hashtag #lovedublin, software was designed to allow the staff at the main desk check the multiple feeds from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on a regular basis. They could then approve new posts that would appear on the large 84″ Social Media wall in the centre.

All Dublin has to offer is only two touches away...

Irish Independent

Comet Chaser – Interactive Cinema

‘Cosmos at the Castle’, in Blackrock, County Cork, features Ireland’s first (and still the only) fully interactive cinema experience. Thought Different, devised, scripted and programmed the 32 seat 4k interactive cinema in 2006.

The experience takes you on a journey following the Rosetta mission and at different points challenges the audience to a series of mini games to help save the planet. Depending on how well the group does in the games will determine the outcome of the cinematic experience.

The interactive presentations on the screens are amazing and The Comet Chaser is a game, that I've never seen before. F A N T A S T I C!!!

An engaging as well as educational game scenario that is on a par with anything Disney could do. It has entertained family members from 7 to 17 and made them go back again for another go.

TripAdvisor