Interactives

Interactive experiences foster engagement with scientific information using visual and audio elements that the audience can control. Below is a sample from my work.

Whale Box

Whale Box is a guided, interactive web application that invites users to learn about the physical and social characteristics of a narwhal. The narwhal’s characteristics are playfully brought to life using animated 3D models and 2D illustrations, designed and developed by a seven-member team.

Although linear narratives exist to serve this purpose (e.g., documentaries), there are few interactive experiences that invite users to explore and learn at their own pace. To fill this gap, our team decided to:

• Create a didactic narrative tailored to our audience that features unique facts about marine wildlife
• Develop a visual-focused, interactive application that invites exploration and uses scaffolding to guide users
• Evaluate the usability of the application

Our design document provides a summary of our approach and outputs, which you can read here or in Figma.

Tools: Figma; Procreate; Blender; Unity

Team: Amy Assabgui, Viktoriya Khymych, Shay Saharan, Abeeshan Selvabaskaran, Jenn Shao, Aimy Wang, and Amy Zhang. My role was as project lead; I also worked on the 2D illustrations.

References

^{Narwhal Tusk Facts: Did You Know? Arctic Kingdom https://arctickingdom.com/narwhal-tusk-facts-did-you-know/ (2019).
Narwhal Facts and Pictures. Animals https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/narwhal (2015).
Gonzalez, N. Inuit Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Hudson Bay Narwhal (Tuugaalik) Population. https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/317649.pdf (2001).
Fontanella, J. E., Fish, F. E., Rybczynski, N., Nweeia, M. T. & Ketten, D. R. Three-dimensional geometry of the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) flukes in relation to hydrodynamics. Marine Mammal Science 27, 889–898 (2011).
World Wildlife Fund. Narwhal | Species | WWF. World Wildlife Fund https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/narwhal.
Marcoux, M. Social Behaviour, Vocalization and Conservation of Narwhals. ARCTIC 61, 456–460 (2009).
Kingsley, M. Underwater World | The Narwhal. (1990).
Marcoux, M. Narwhal communication and grouping behaviour: a case study in social cetacean research and monitoring. (2011).
Kennedy, C. The Narwhal’s Tale: Surviving Sea Ice Change. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/narwhals-tale-surviving-sea-ice-change (2012).
Heide-Jørgensen, M. P., Hansen, R. G., Westdal, K., Reeves, R. R., Mosbech, A. Narwhals and seismic exploration: Is seismic noise increasing the risk of ice entrapments? (2012).}