Pip’s Island

Pip’s island is an immersive theatrical experience that transports kids to a magical island where they have the opportunity to explore the deep sea, make ships fly, and help their hero in a battle for good.

My Role

As Lead Experience Designer for AchesonWalsh Studios, I worked on design, technology, and fabrication for Pip's Island. I collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver 10 different interactive pieces that each had to have buy in from our clients as well as other stakeholders including performers, puppeteers, marketing, and stage crew. Our goal was to create an immersive experience that merged tactile interactions with technology to create a whole new play experience.

Prototyping & User Testing

Each piece had multiple user groups that we had to design for: performers & puppeteers, kids, and the stage crew. We conducted user interviews with each group to create our initial prototypes, designing for things like weight for the stage crew, ergonomics for the performers & puppeteers, and ease of interaction and maximum fun for the kids.

Once we had initial prototypes with rough materials such as cardboard and paper, we did some user testing before we began the higher level fabrication. Most of the pieces were made out of wood, foam, paint, and had electronics hidden inside to create various interactions such as the air ship pictured, has several fans that inflate the balloons once triggered by the user.

Technology

I was in charge of the technology for the “Flambow” characters, which were round, “floating” lanterns that had to glow as if they were breathing. I researched the best options for the technology, narrowing in on a microcontroller that was lightweight, yet had the processing power needed.

I used the Adafruit Trinket Mini Microcontroller with a boost board to allow the batteries to be easily recharged between performances. I used a an rgb LED strip that had individually addressable LEDs. The LED strip was coded to activate the LED “breathing” effect via simple button trigger.

Fabrication

I led the design and fabrication for the “Lighthouse” that a 20 ft. tall puppet was meant to emerge from during the experience. I based my initial designs on the shape of a Fresnel lens, often used in old lighthouses. As this piece had to be over 6 ft. tall, I had to determine an easy mechanism for the lens to open, allowing the character to step out freely without the puppeteers having to worry about tangled wires. After creating several prototypes and testing the scene with some of the puppeteers, I began building the piece using foam, wood, fiberglass, and resin.