The Gaia System is an innovative tabletop projection mapping installation designed to transform how museums present information. Exhibited at Sortland Museum in Norway’s Vesterålen district, it merges physical models with digital storytelling, offering an engaging and interactive experience for visitors. Developed under the Gaia Vesterålen project1, the system is now in its third iteration, continuously evolving to push the boundaries of museum technology.
At its core, the Gaia System projects dynamic content onto a physical 3D model of Vesterålen, creating an immersive way to explore environmental, historical, and societal topics. Using high-resolution projections, it covers subjects like settlements, climate, and wildlife, seamlessly integrating historical, forecasted, and real-time data. These insights come to life through map-based visualizations, animated stories, and live API data, ensuring an interactive and up-to-date experience.
Designed for both independent exploration and guided presentations, the system offers two interaction modes. In Individual Mode, visitors navigate content through touchscreens, diving into different themes at their own pace. In Presentation Mode, museum staff lead groups through the experience using a tablet, making it ideal for educational demonstrations.
A key strength of the Gaia System is its flexible and scalable content structure. Narratives are stored in JSON format, allowing for easy updates and expansion. This enables the creation of supportive tools that, e.g., can assist non-technical users to create and manage content effortlessly through a tool called PM Editor, a custom-built CMS. Additional tools like GaiaTech, a MediaWiki-based platform, facilitate the collection and curation of expert data, while GaiaCrowd harnesses crowdsourced contributions from the public.
Looking ahead, the Gaia System is poised for even greater innovation. Future developments could include augmented reality overlays, object tracking for interactive experiences and gamified elements, bringing the entire projection mapping system into an immersive digital space.
Beyond its technical capabilities, the Gaia System is also a subject of ongoing research in sustainability, usability, and user experience2. Several studies have already explored its impact, and continued development aims to refine its effectiveness as an educational and storytelling tool.
By combining cutting-edge technology with interactive storytelling, the Gaia System redefines how museums engage audiences, making complex topics more accessible, visually engaging, and immersive. As research and innovation continue, it represents a powerful step toward the future of museum experiences.
- For more information on the Gaia Vesterålen project, please visit: https://www.gaiavesteralen.eco/ and https://www.sintef.no/en/projects/2021/gaia-vesteralen/
The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway (no. 321550) and is led by Lofotr Næringsdrift, part of Museum Nord. Partners are: SINTEF, Deadline Media, and Nordlandsforskning.
↩︎ - Related peer-reviewed academic articles:
– “The Gaia System: A Tabletop Projection Mapping System for Raising Environmental Awareness in Islands and Coastal Areas” (2022)
– “The Projection Mapping Situational Layer: Tabletop Projection Mapping for Visualisation of Real-time Geospatial Data” (2023)
– “Sustainability Design in Industry and Academia” (2024)
– “‘It should last long without harming the environment’: Perspectives on Sustainability in an Environmental and Historical IT-project” (2024)
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