How to get the whole world at your finger tips
Mike Corte
Insight
At Captiv8, we get all sorts of interesting project requests from a diverse range of clients – small to large, breathtaking to bizarre, and everything in between. As we pride ourselves on being digital content natives, we delight in finding ways to implement any new or emerging technology into a project strategy. Of course we avoid using new technology just to use it, preferring to identify how it can be harnessed to complement the overall message and client objective.
Recently we partnered with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a new way to showcase the great work they’ve been doing through their LifeWeb initiative at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Parks Congress – an important event that happens once every ten years which Australia was privileged to host in 2014.
The UNEP enlisted Captiv8 to create a fully interactive digital display that combined video, imagery, an immersive 3D globe and a wealth of information on the remarkable progress they’ve been making throughout each of the regions and highlight the work still needed to protect these areas.
At Captiv8, we get all sorts of interesting project requests from a diverse range of clients – small to large, breathtaking to bizarre, and everything in between. As we pride ourselves on being digital content natives, we delight in finding ways to implement any new or emerging technology into a project strategy. Of course we avoid using new technology just to use it, preferring to identify how it can be harnessed to complement the overall message and client objective.
Recently we partnered with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a new way to showcase the great work they’ve been doing through their LifeWeb initiative at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Parks Congress – an important event that happens once every ten years which Australia was privileged to host in 2014.
The UNEP enlisted Captiv8 to create a fully interactive digital display that combined video, imagery, an immersive 3D globe and a wealth of information on the remarkable progress they’ve been making throughout each of the regions and highlight the work still needed to protect these areas.
They also required the interactive map to be showcased online throughout a number of UNEP websites – to extend reach & awareness beyond the event.
For us, this presented an opportunity to unleash our capabilities in design, video content and digital technology.
Using the insight that environmental protection is in our own hands, our approach creatively was put the whole world in the public’s hands and we set about creating a 3D globe people could explore for themselves.
Using WebGL, we were able to design and render 3D graphics to create our globe. The globe rotated automatically within touchscreen and users could also rotate the globe with their hands allowing them to interact with content without experiencing any lag or loss in image quality. Each of the projects’ latitude and longitude were pinned, and as the globe rotated, popups of each UN Environmental project appeared as their location came into view. The popups showed a summary of the work being done and encouraged users to explore further. As well as the 3D version globe, a 2D flat map, showing each location at a glance, could be activated with one touch.
Once opened, a full-screen layout of the selected environmental project was displayed, where users could read more about work being undertaken in a particular location, scroll through a photo gallery and watch videos of the progress being made and the work still to be done. The interactive application was loaded onto a massive 74-inch touchscreen allowing delegates to experience the impressive scale of the UNEP project.
Given the Spanish Government was behind the initiative, it was important to accommodate those Spanish speakers in the audience. Users of the LifeWeb app were also able to transition between English and Spanish with a single touch.
Delegates were invited to come along and listen to talks from esteemed speakers as well as explore the touch screen at their leisure. And explore they did. Throughout the exhibition, scores of people entered the UNEP Life Web stage to try the app, navigate the globe with ease and learn about the terrific work happening around the world to maintain the earth’s natural wonders.
A key requirement the project was to find a way to seamlessly move the touch screen functionality to web. During the early R&D phase of the project we identified a number of development frameworks that could be adapted and this approach would also create cost efficiencies for the client not having to build it twice.
“Captiv8 guided us through the design and development process while delivering a world class application that we are able to reuse across multiple platforms. UNEP and WCMC colleagues alike were all very impressed with the final product and grateful to Captiv8 for pulling it off against numerous odds.”
Melbourne Level 27
101 Collins St, VIC, 3000
Brisbane Level 19
10 Eagle St, QLD, 4000
