Nelly the Narwhal

Using the power of storytelling, science and emerging tech to educate and entertain a wider audience on the impact of climate change in the Arctic.

Why:

With temperatures continuing to rise at 3x the global annual average, this makes the Arctic Circle one of the most obvious witnesses of climate change. With widespread impact going beyond sea life, receding ice creates risks for marine species.

I partnered with Arctic Stories and Tviibit, to pitch, create and produce an immersive project born of the collaboration of creators and scientists for causes that matter.

The goal was to build a prototype that brought together scientific research, emerging technology and use storytelling to show the impact of climate change in the North Pole and make scientific research-based content digestible, accessible and entertaining through new formats.

What:

I led a small, multi-disciplinary team and won the pitch for a year long XR project taking us to the Arctic Circle and exhibiting at Film and XR Festivals through the story of Nelly the Narwhal, the world’s first Arctic content creator.

Frustrated with ever increasing noise pollution in the Arctic, Nelly turns to social media to make a change and educate her audience in a fun, approachable yet informative way. She is tech savvy, a natural leader, and loves to make engaging mini games, quizzes, and filters. With the support of her human team, she sets off on a perilous journey across the Arctic to speak to scientists and fellow animals to galvanise, educate, ask the hard questions and ultimately help her followers understand how they could play their part.

A Rare Space Sanctuary Garden

An educational AR filter to educate and raise awareness around rare forms of dementia through accessibility design at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.‍

Why:

Getting involved in gardening activities can be extra beneficial for people living with dementia, particularly visual and spatial forms of the disease. It helps increase physical activity levels and provides opportunities for social interaction.

In partnership with the RHS, Meta and Rare Dementia Support, I created a unique augmented reality (AR) experience which allows the user to interact and ‘build’ a virtual replica of ‘The Rare Space’ garden wherever they are, simply by using their smartphone, through their Instagram or Meta app.

The experience had to be designed and articulated to drive education, showcase design accessibility and demystify some of the myths behind the disease. It helped in creatively addressing specific challenges for people living with the condition, such as sensory disruption, trouble navigating space and affecting the way the brain processes sight.

What:

The 3D model of the Sanctuary Garden gave the users options to re-create the space and punctuate the garden through interacting and choosing between plain or bold, contrasting coloured benches and flowers, a simple single-path route over a convoluted one, and sheltered spaces for independent way finding.

Spotify Audio Analysis in 3D

Turning Spotify datasets into an immersive, 3D/AR experience for users to navigate and experience seven decades of music artistry from the 50s to the modern day.

Why:

If data powers Spotify’s experience, that’s not an aspect considered by the everyday user when using the platform. From personalised music recommendations to analysing individual music preferences and search behaviour, the data behind it remains an abstract notion to a lot of people.

What:

I aimed to create an environment where music, data and the end user could meet through interaction, exploration, turning the abstraction into engagement. 

Using Spotify’s Audio Feature data, I sourced several datasets to pull all Billboard Top 100 Tracks from 1950-2021, with each track associated with Audio Features such as Acousticness, Danceability, Energy, Instrumentalness, Speechiness, Liveness and Valence.

Turning this dataset into a 3D experience, users were then able to navigate through a global Artist’s repertoire, how popular and cultural taste evolved over time and interact with 7 decades of music history. Each track became interactive at the touch of a screen to provide an insightful pop up with its unique data set, telling the story of music evolution through data.

Share My Spot

An app that connects music, places and people through contextual memory with Spotify and Google Maps

Why:

Music can be deeply associated with specific times, places, and people. Hearing a track from the past can transport us back to the time and place where we first heard it. It can play a significant role in the way we remember and connect with our past experiences, and a remarkable ability to evoke memories and emotions. This connection has been widely studied by researchers and experts in fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and music therapy.

What:

I wanted to explore and tap into the fascinating correlation between music and memory with the help of technology and find a way to make music sharing and discovery more memorable, personal, and humanized for users.

I built Share My Spot, connecting Google Maps' location data with Spotify’s API, creating a space where music can be stored, shared, and discovered with the added dimension of location - tying a piece of music to real life events and places. This triggers a new way to share and connect, offering a new route into music discovery and a novel way to communicate.

Airbnb x litte concert Partnership

Teaming up with Airbnb and the Mayor of London to curate and produce a series of 11 intimate concerts to promote and celebrate independent female artists.

Why:

When Airbnb launched Airbnb Concerts, their goal was to promote shared experiences around live music in unconventional locations, offering a new way to experience the music scene in a curated and more intimate setting.

What:

As part of the team at little Concerts, a community-driven music platform. I pitched and spearheaded a strategic partnership, teaming up with Airbnb to support independent female Artists. This initiative aimed to tackle the challenges emerging talents face in earning an income from their gigs and enhancing their ability to perform in front of new audiences.