An experience designed to take visitors on a journey through time, exploring the volcanic origins of the Canary Islands, marine life, and environmental challenges.
We were responsible for designing and integrating a series of immersive, interactive installations that combined holography, real-time data, video mapping, and motion-triggered effects to create an educational yet visually captivating experience.
The space was designed with four main installations connected by fog screens that projected flowing lava, acting as transitions between sections.
Oceanic Core is an immersive multi-installation experience created for a visitor attraction in the Canary Islands, designed to take audiences on a journey through the archipelago’s extraordinary natural history – from the volcanic geological forces that formed the islands millions of years ago through to the marine ecosystems that define their present, and the environmental challenges that threaten their future.
ex1t.one was responsible for the design and integration of the complete installation system across the experience, combining holographic displays, dome mapping, video mapping on rock surfaces, real-time environmental data visualisation, and fog-screen projection transitions into a single coherent spatial narrative. The result was a space that educated visitors about sustainability and natural history without ever feeling like a conventional exhibition – every element was experiential, sensory, and designed to be encountered rather than observed.
Table of Contents
Four Installations Connected by Lava Fog Screen Transitions
The spatial design of Oceanic Core was structured around four main installations, each occupying its own dedicated zone within the experience space and focused on a distinct chapter of the Canary Islands’ natural story. Connecting these zones were fog screens onto which flowing lava was projected, creating a transition effect that was simultaneously visually striking and thematically coherent – the volcanic forces that shaped the islands becoming the literal boundary between each chapter of the experience.
These transitions were one of the most praised elements of the visitor experience, noted for the way they maintained immersive continuity between installations rather than creating the dead zones of empty corridor that typically separate zones in exhibition design. Moving from one installation to the next felt like passing through a living geological environment rather than navigating a building.
The four-installation structure allowed each zone to be designed with its own specific technology mix, interaction model, and narrative focus, whilst the fog screen transitions and consistent spatial design language ensured the overall experience felt unified from entry to exit.
Volcanic Origins: Video Mapping on Rock Walls and Floor Lava Projections
The volcanic origins installation used projection mapping onto the natural rock wall surfaces of the space to simulate the geological processes through which the Canary Islands were formed. Underwater scenes projected onto the rock faces depicted volcanic activity on the ocean floor that preceded the islands’ emergence above sea level, placing visitors inside the geological narrative rather than presenting it on a flat screen.
Lava flow projections onto the floor of this zone enhanced the sensory immersion, surrounding visitors with the visual heat and movement of volcanic activity at their feet, whilst the walls showed the broader geological context above them. The combination of floor and wall projection created a fully enveloping environment in which visitors were positioned at the centre of the geological story rather than at a distance from it.
The content for this installation was developed in consultation with geological and environmental experts to ensure accurate depiction of volcanic formation processes and to maintain the educational integrity of the experience throughout.
Oceanic Core
Marine Life and Dome Mapping: The Dolphin Reveal
The marine life installation used dome mapping to create a complete underwater illusion within a domed structure, surrounding visitors with the ecosystems of the Atlantic Ocean surrounding the Canary Islands. The dome projection system covered the entire interior surface, placing visitors beneath a shifting canopy of ocean light, marine life, and deep water, with a fidelity and scale that conventional flat-screen presentation could not match.
The climactic moment of this installation was the dolphin reveal – a live element in which real dolphins were introduced into the experience space, blending the virtual underwater environment projected across the dome with the physical presence of living animals. This seamless transition between the virtual and the real was cited by visitors as one of the most memorable moments of the entire experience, combining the emotional impact of the dome’s immersive scale with the irreplaceable power of a genuine encounter with marine life.
The design of this transition – from fully virtual immersion to the introduction of real animals – required careful technical and operational coordination to ensure the two elements met without visual discontinuity or disruption to the experience’s narrative flow.
Oceanic Core
Real-Time Environmental Data: The Global Warming Sphere
The fourth installation addressed the environmental challenges facing the Canary Islands and the wider planet through a suspended sphere displaying real-time global temperature data. The sphere functioned as a physical data visualisation object, with its surface displaying live information from global climate monitoring systems, complemented by dynamic galaxy projections in the surrounding space that contextualised Earth’s environmental situation within the broader scale of the universe.
The real-time data element was a deliberate design choice, distinguishing this installation from fixed exhibition content by ensuring the information displayed was always current and therefore directly relevant to the visitor’s present moment. The connection between the sphere’s live data and the global heat map displayed alongside it created an installation that communicated the immediacy and ongoing nature of climate change rather than presenting it as a historical or abstract problem.
This integration of live environmental data into an immersive experience space was technically complex, requiring a reliable data pipeline from global monitoring sources into the real-time rendering system, with sufficient redundancy to ensure consistent performance throughout the attraction’s operational hours.
Oceanic Core
Eco-Friendly Filtration Holographic Display
The holographic display installation brought visitors into direct interaction with the attraction’s own eco-friendly saltwater filtration system – one of the facility’s key sustainability credentials – through a holographic interface that visualised how the system functioned whilst real-world lighting effects highlighted its physical components in the space around the display.
This installation served a dual purpose: educating visitors about the attraction’s environmental responsibility and demonstrating, in practical terms, the kind of sustainable engineering the Oceanic Core experience advocated more broadly through its environmental narrative. By making the filtration system itself a subject of the experience, the installation created a direct link between the attraction’s values and its physical infrastructure.
The interactive holographic format allowed visitors to explore the filtration process at their own pace, interrogating specific elements of the system through gesture-based interaction rather than reading static information panels – maintaining the participatory, experiential character of the installation programme throughout.
Oceanic Core
- Goals:
◦ Immersive Education: Create an interactive space educating visitors on sustainability and the volcanic origins of the Canary Islands.
◦ Seamless transitions between spaces
◦ Integrate real-time data and interactivity for engaging, multi-sensory experiences. - Production:
◦ Holographic Screen and Eco-Friendly Filtration System: Visitors interacted with a holographic display showcasing the park’s eco-friendly saltwater filtering system. Real-world lighting effects highlighted the system’s physical elements.
◦ Video Mapping and Volcanic Formation: Projections onto rock walls simulated underwater scenes and explained the volcanic origins of the Canary Islands. Lava flows projected on the floor enhanced the immersive experience.
◦ Marine Life and Dolphin Experience: Dome mapping created an underwater illusion, culminating in a live dolphin reveal, blending virtual and real worlds seamlessly.
◦ Global Warming and Real-Time Data Sphere: A suspended sphere displayed real-time temperature data, linked to a global heat map and complemented by dynamic galaxy projections. - Results:
◦ Highly Engaging Experience: Multi-sensory installations captivated visitors, effectively delivering educational content.
◦ Seamless Real-Time Data Integration: The eco-friendly filtration system and global heat map reinforced the environmental message with real-world applications.
◦ Positive Visitor Feedback: Guests praised the transitions, especially the lava fog screens and dolphin reveal, as highlights of the experience.
Related Immersive Environmental and Educational Experiences
Explore more immersive environmental and educational experiences from ex1t.one:
- InGoya Immersive Exhibition – Ultra-high-resolution immersive art experience featuring 200+ works by Francisco de Goya
- Monument to the Revolution Mexico City – Interactive heritage installation increasing visitor traffic by 25%
- Hexagon 270° Immersive Theatre – Real-time interactive showroom experience in the Netherlands
ex1t.one’s Approach to Immersive Environmental Experience Design
ex1t.one designs immersive experiences for visitor attractions, cultural institutions, and environmental organisations that need to communicate complex natural and scientific narratives in ways that engage rather than instruct. Oceanic Core demonstrates our capability to design and integrate multi-technology installation systems – combining holography, dome mapping, video mapping, real-time data, and physical environmental elements – into a single coherent spatial experience that visitors navigate as a journey rather than a sequence of exhibits.
Our approach to environmental and educational experience design prioritises sensory engagement above information density. Visitors who feel something remember more than visitors who are told something – and the combination of volcano floor projections, marine dome mapping, real dolphins, live climate data, and lava fog screen transitions in Oceanic Core was designed from the outset to create feeling first and understanding second.
For further context on immersive design for environmental education and visitor attractions, visit the Association for Cultural Enterprises resource hub.