Discovering Technology Treasures had entered its fourth edition from 2014. This year, it took place in Taichung and themed “Tech Formula”. The theme not only contained the spirit of join forces, from small part like R&D outline to the big component such as teamwork. Also it incorporated elements, including fantasy, technology, and education into the interactive experience. The exhibition was divided into 4 major sections and simulated the settings of futuristic cities. Visitors could map out their own city blueprints and be a one-day virtual mayor by experiencing and personalizing the mechanism of the interactive game and sensing technology.
IF Plus was commissioned to plan out the overall interactive experience, including the project, the opening immersive theater, scenic design, information machines, and highlight installations. The graphic design consisted of elements including mathematical symbols, hexagon, and big data. The shape of hexagon resembled as the strong and solid honeycomb, which connecting all participants’ experience data at the exhibition.
Entrance & Opening Ceremony Theater Before entry, each visitor would receive a flyer with QR code Dimension microchip on. Participants could bind the card through registering machines and watch the opening performance. The large surround screen and the sound/ light effect created the immersive experience for audience to enjoy the fantasy performance. Meanwhile, audience could understand the goal of the mission and the rules of collecting after the show.
Showcasing Techniques & Highlights Section Technique Display section demonstrated around 70-80 booths from Industrial Technology Research Institute technological units. Spread across four sections, each one represented one technique category. Visitors could collect the technique they liked and scan the linked QR code microchip. Every collected technique was a piece of chip puzzle, and could be stored maximum of six pieces. Depending on the scores proportion of each technique, it would be combined into different color city models. A chip inquiry machine was installed in each section where visitor could check their collected techniques and the outlook of the city they were building. Additionally, IF Plus created large-scale interactive installations from two of the highlight techniques: combining silver nanowire conductive coating material and AI object recognition technology. The projection table would ask audience questions. Besides, participants could provide assigned pictures at the same time and the AI recognition would activate different light and sound effects.
Other Interactive Experience In order to incorporate more interesting experience and technology, DIY Water interactive vending machines enabled visitors to make limited bottled water by scanning the chip card and personalize the ingredients within a time frame. Cloud Assembly Line was the installation connecting the tablet and the projection. Development Big Leap interactive machine used Kinect to produce the x-ray real-time figure, which showed varied body tissues at different distance. Unimpeded Wearable Control modified the regular claw machine enable players to control its movement and grab, which was hugely endorsed by visitors.
City Generator Upon arriving at City Generator section, visitors would see a huge projection near the exit. It showed all of the participants’ cities connected together. Installed at both sides, the “Generator” allowed participants to tap the key and upload their own cities to join onto the collective city. Each participant would receive their own city card as a souvenir before exiting.
Exhibition Date | 6/28-7/22 Exhibition Venue | Taichung Cultural Heritage Park International Exhibition Hall