Immersive experience

Helping Penny reach the North Pole

The goal? Help a penguin named Penny, full name Penelope Quinn (get it.. Pen-Quinn), achieve her dream of meeting Father Christmas.
To be experienced in an IX room, a three wall projection where you are able to press, scroll, and play with projected features.

We built the experience around a simple four-act story: introducing Penny’s dream, taking kids on a global journey, uncovering the Father Christmas’ home, and ending with a cosy moment back home.

This wasn’t designed as a passive story, the kids were in control.

• Interactive post boxes
  As Penny travelled, children were encouraged to click post boxes which revealed postcard quizzes to send to Penny’s friends back home. When the children answered the questions, the host pressed a buzzer which released a comical sound for right and wrong answers.

• Discovering Father Christmas’ home
  At the North Pole, the experience became a playful hide-and-seek. The kids looked for objects that let them know they had found the right house for Penny. When they clicked the objects belonging to Father Christmas glitter-spots and festive jingles were triggered.

• A magical ending
  Finding all eight items unlocked the iconic “Ho Ho Ho”, before gently fading to Penny tucked up at home.

• Beyond the screen
  To extend the magic, we created physical postcards sent from Penny, thanking the children for their help and turning a digital story into a real-world experience.

Craft and execution

Working to a tight timeline, I used stock imagery, focussing on a cohesive look. Detailed storyboards, including audio, ensured a smooth animation process from the start. The experience was built in Hyro (now TSS), allowing us to deliver rich interactivity while staying agile.