Members of the Hull Maritime and Museums teams recently travelled to AIVAF’s workshop in Sheffield to get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the interactive experiences being developed for the Maritime Museum and North End Shipyard visitor centre.
AIVAF is a Sheffield-based company that specialises in designing and building interactive and immersive experiences for museums, science centres, visitor attractions, heritage sites, zoos, and aquariums around the world.
AIVAF is known for creating imaginative and engaging installations for public spaces, and this visit offered a first glimpse of the exciting elements that will soon bring Hull’s maritime heritage to life in new and accessible ways.
As well as previewing the interactives, the teams were there to advise on how people with different access needs, including those with visual impairments might experience the displays. Accessibility is a key priority, and the visit helped ensure that the final installations will be inclusive and engaging for all.
Here are just a few of the interactive experiences being crafted:
- Tactile scale models of key collection items, including bronzed sculptures of the Arctic Corsair, whales, and polar bears to allow those with visual impairment to explore key items in our collection.
- Under 5s experiences, such as a model dock with a working crane and a ship’s wheelhouse with buttons and switches.
- Digital navigation game where you take a bearing and steer a ship using only a compass.
- Wind and sail experiment to test how wind powers ships using a working sail model.
These interactives will form part of a rich, multi-sensory visitor experience designed to inspire curiosity, learning, and connection with Hull’s maritime story.
Creating new ways of learning is in response to consultation, the displays are for everyone and will remain collections rich with 50 per cent more items on display.
