The multi-sensorial scenography of the walk-in interactive audio drama “Torn Island” in a bunker on Texel mainly works with sound (language and sound atmospheres via the 3D audio system), light (the red colour mood) and haptics (objects to touch).
On the North Sea island of Texel in the Netherlands, usomo is part of a small but innovative exhibition design. The concept of the sound-based exhibition at an unusual location is built on the immersive and interactive 3D audio system usomo, by which visitors are taken on a surprising journey through time back to a historic event.
Staged in a World War II bunker hidden in the dunes, the exhibition “Torn Island” recounts a dramatic story from the last days of the war that took place here on Texel. Visitors are immersed into the dialogues and inner worlds of the soldiers and closely experience their thoughts and emotions, while wandering through the space lit in dramatic red like through a three-dimensional audio play. In doing so, the visitors themselves contribute to the dynamics of the exhibition design, for the media partially react interactively to their movement in the space.
This walk-in interactive audio drama is richly filled with content on small grounds. The multi-sensorial scenography mainly works with sound (language and sound atmospheres via the 3D audio system), light (the red colour mood) and haptics (objects to touch). At some of the audio stations, an object can be grasped and experienced through the sense of touch while listening to the story. For example, a wooden knife can be used to poke around in sand, the sand let trickling through the fingers, the hand placed into a pre-shaped imprint in wood or a rope tied between wooden steles. The salty scent of the sea, mixed with the earthy nuances of sand, wood and flax, is perceived through the senses of smell and taste. By stimulating all of the senses, a strong immersive experience that feels highly authentic is created here in a very small space.
Credits
Website lomt.nl
Client Aviation & War Museum, Texel
Lead Agency Kossmanndejong, Amsterdam
Spatial sound system usomo by FRAMED immersive projects, Berlin
usomo tasks usomo sound system, spatial audio production, consulting on the sound concept
Duration permanent exhibition opened in September 2020
Photos © Thijs Wolzak
