Space Needle

SkyPad Interactive Wall

Space Needle Observation Deck

Year

2014

Agency

Belle & Wissell, Co.

Client

Links

Role

Senior Interactive Developer at Belle & Wissell, Co.

Team

  • Gabe Kean, Principal
  • Thomas Ryun, Art Director
  • Sarah Trueblood, Studio Producer
  • Edward Tang, Technology Lead
  • Edrea Lita, Senior Designer
  • Eric Harvey, Designer
  • Seb Chevrel, Studio Coordinator
  • Alex Maurouard, Development Intern
  • Erik Hicks, Back End Developer
  • Serge Bokach, Quality Assurance Engineer

Tags

  • Visitor Center
  • Cultural Icon
  • Interactive Wall
  • Installation
  • Front-End Development
  • Multitouch
  • Motion Sensor

Languages/Libraries

  • Adobe AIR
  • ActionScript
  • Starling

Awards/Press

  • 2015 – Society for Experiential Graphic Design Global Design Awards
  • 2014 – Communication Arts “Exhibit”
  • 2015 – CBS This Morning, “Seattle’s Space Needle raises the bar with new technology”
  • 2014 – Associated Press, “High-tech fun rivals view at Seattle Space Needle”

With over 1.5 million visitors a year, the Space Needle is the second most visited public space in Seattle (second only to the Seattle Central Library). As part of a large set of digital enhancements being added to the Space Needle's Observation Deck, Belle & Wissell created the centerpiece experience—a 20-foot wide interactive wall called SkyPad.

Space Needle

I led development of a giant photo exploration interactive for SkyPad where visitors explore more than 50 years of memories—memorabilia, early tower design and construction, sunsets, celebrity visits, etc.

Guests can also contribute their own memories to the wall by uploading photos through the Space Needle's website.

The interactive displays thousands of images simultaneously and allows many visitors to interact at the same time. I used the GPU-powered Starling framework to create an interface that animates smoothly and is responsive to touch.

Space Needle
Space Needle