Riding the Tide to Accessibility

Profile

Name: Aquarium of the Pacific
Location: Long Beach, California
Founded: 1998
Website: www.aquariumofpacific.org

Challenge

Enhance accessibility and interactivity within the Aquarium.

Solution

Incorporate Epson's versatile, easy-to-use technology—including smart glasses, projectors and document cameras—to encourage hands-on learning and experiences for guest of all abilities.

Aquarium of the Pacific turns to Epson to enhance hands-on learning

"Epson is a great partner and right in our backyard. They are always someone we think about as another key part of the Long Beach community," said Lindsay Yates, senior manager, corporate and foundation relations, Aquarium of the Pacific.

Long Beach, Calif.-based Aquarium of the Pacific is the largest aquarium in southern California, instilling a sense of wonder, respect and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants and ecosystems. As the fourth most-attended aquarium in the nation, the facility continues to grow and evolve to attract and engage with guests in the best possible way.

When the Aquarium opened its new Pacific Visions wing, they reached out to Epson as a technology partner to help make the space as accessible and inclusive as possible.

Disrupting the Current with Accessible Technology

The Aquarium of the Pacific welcomes and ensures guests of all abilities can experience the exhibits and learn about the ocean. When designing the Pacific Visions expansion, they consulted Haben Girma as an advisor to ensure the new wing is fully accessible. Girma is the first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School and is an advocate for equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

Within the new wing resides the state-of-the-art, immersive Honda Pacific Visions Theater. Designed with accessibility in mind, the theater features virtual touch technology for visitors who are deaf and blind to "feel" the film using mid-air touch haptics. To deliver a hands-free closed captioning experience for guests, the Aquarium turned to Epson's Moverio smart glasses.

In preparation for its annual Festival of Human Abilities, which celebrates the creative talents and abilities of people with disabilities, the Aquarium was able to experiment with Moverio for English and Spanish closed captioning. The Aquarium's media server company previously developed an app that worked seamlessly with Moverio right out of the box.

"Prior to implementing Moverio, we had a handheld system for closed captioning, meaning users would have to look down and up throughout showings. If someone is hard of hearing, they can miss 20 percent of content in doing that," stated Darek Balsillie, director of AV and IT, Aquarium of the Pacific. "Patrons really liked the fact that they didn't have to hold anything and could keep looking at the screen with the captions in their line of sight, allowing them to see the whole picture."

After the theater show, visitors enter the Culmination Gallery that features a massive interactive wall, games tables and animal exhibits. To draw attention to the tabletop interactive area and enhance the space, the Aquarium integrated Epson's LightScene accent lighting laser projectors.

"LightScene served the goal that we wanted, to let people see where the interactive is before they get close," said Balsillie. "One of my associates made these animations, it's not just static but spins in a circle. People always go up and step on it, trying to figure out where it's coming from."

The LightScene projectors display iconic graphics—food, water, energy—that match the interactive activity to attract guests to the station. The laser projectors also transform the exit of the theater and entrance to the gallery with eye-catching digital signage that spells out "Join the Experience Now." The phrases spins back and forth so people coming from each direction can clearly read the phrase.

Designed as a dynamic space, the Culmination Gallery will support changing exhibits and updated messaging to reflect relevant conservation topics. Epson's LightScene projectors will support the Aquarium in providing engaging visitor interactions in this flexible gallery.

Navigating the Depths of Distance Learning

Once COVID-19 hit, the Aquarium took measures to ensure the safety of its guests by embracing distance learning lessons. The Aquarium's education efforts strive to provide an inquiry-based program, encouraging students to act like scientists in observing and thinking about what they are seeing.

Having the hands-on, interactive piece is pivotal to the program, and forced the Aquarium to rethink its approach to lessons. In the early months of 2020, they went right into producing five live virtual classes a day because there was no content out there. Requiring the best tools and technology to bring lessons to life, the Aquarium integrated Epson's document cameras to better engage with both virtual and in-person students.

"Once we could have visitors onsite again, we were trying to figure out how to best engage kids safely with distancing," said Yates. "The document camera allowed us to show amazing biofacts like abalone shells and otter pelts in a way that felt more interactive to kids onsite."

As the Aquarium continues to provide dynamic programs and innovative exhibits, Epson's technology solutions have become a staple in making the experience accessible, interactive and educational.