I had the pleasure of working with Josh and his Planet Nutshell team on the virtual tour for Boston Children’s Museum. They are a group of incredibly talented individuals who worked together to produce a product beyond our greatest expectations. In addition to their creative and technical skills, they are adept at working with groups of people (many cooks in the kitchen with many different ideas). They not only created our Virtual Tour, but developed icon maps of each floor, created two animated characters from scratch, coordinated the voiceovers, made a scavenger hunt for the tour, and synced everything flawlessly. We could not be happier with the result.

Karin Hansen – Creative Director, Boston Children’s Museum

We’re proud to announce the launch of a new virtual tour for our friends at Boston Children’s Museum. The thrill and delight (and many challenges!) of this project came from combining so many things: 360-degree panoramic photography, accessibility standards, software development, user experience/interface design, storytelling, and of course, animation.

Our heroes, Penny and Pickles, guide visitors through key exhibits in the museum.

A Focus on Fun and Storytelling

As part of our research, we looked at a ton of other museum tours. It quickly became clear that we wanted to do something different and special. It wasn’t enough to simply re-create the museum space. We wanted to make BCM’s tour an experience, something with a story that invites the user to explore, learn, and play. Most of all, we wanted to make something fun.

Just one of the many items awaiting those who explore…

A Delightful Treasure Hunt

That’s where Penny and Pickles come in. They’re friends with very different personalities who introduce visitors to the tour and invite them to embark on a hunt for lost items in the museum.

Along the way, visitors learn about select exhibits from them via short animated videos embedded in the tour. These videos also provide hints about the treasures they can uncover.

The fun, clickable map is accessible from anywhere in the tour.

Simple UI and an Interactive Custom Map

A key design principle was keeping the user experience simple and easy to use. While we wanted to promote exploration, we also wanted to make it easy for visitors to fast travel throughout the museum in just a few clicks. So, we built a custom map of the entire building that makes it easy to see where you are and where you can go.

The tour is now live, so go dive into the experience and tell us what you think!

I want to thank the team at Boston Children’s Museum who supported us throughout this very intensive creative and technical process, as well as the complex task of making the tour accessible for visitors with disabilities. We couldn’t have done it without their input and guidance. We hope it brings joy to all who join Penny and Pickles on a grand adventure.