While woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers and short-faced bears no longer roam our planet, anyone in Ottawa can still see them up-close this summer with a new free augmented reality app from the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The app, Planet Ice AR, is a virtual and pandemic-friendly alternative to the museum’s previous live stunts such as inflatable dinosaurs and polar bears roaming downtown Ottawa.
The stunts help attract visitors to the museum, according to Sarah Young, a Digital Content Developer and Online Community Coordinator at the museum.
“We want people to have fun, learn a bit about the ice age and get creative in sharing an ice age scene around the region’s iconic attractions, or even at their home, workplace, neighbourhood park, or local event,” Chief Marketing Officer and co-CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature, John Swettenham wrote in a press release.
Planet Ice AR coincides with the museum’s travelling exhibit, Planet Ice: Mysteries of the Ice Ages, which is on display in Ottawa until Sept. 5.
The Canadian Museum of Nature first introduced the exhibit in 2020 without its interactive elements. The exhibit returned this summer with the addition of the app.
“We’re really excited about the app because it’s something we’ve never done before … it will be a really nice complement to the exhibition no matter where it goes,” Young said.
Alongside three extinct prehistoric species, the app shows amateur explorers three species that still exist today: Caribou, muskox and wolves. App users can switch between different environments and weather effects such as tundras, taigas and glaciers while learning about the animals in English and French.
“All the animals are scientific representations, they are scalable within the app so when you place them they’re not quite to scale but they are relative to each other,” Young said.
According to Young, the app and exhibit are part of the museum’s effort to explain climate change to the general public in a less anxiety-inducing way.
“It’s pretty much our duty to talk about [climate change] … and the way that we approach talking about climate change was to think about the importance of snow and ice,” Young said. “The planet has gone through multiple ice ages … and we’ve only existed in this context where snow and ice is on the planet.”
Eli Duern, a recent visitor of the museum and avid photographer, said he appreciated how the app and exhibit were catered to children and adults while subtly approaching the topic of climate change.
“It’s a fun way to tie in the past with the present and see which creatures were roaming around tens of thousands of years ago and see them in a modern setting,” he said. “What I really appreciated about this exhibit was they tied in the history of ice ages and the fact that humankind is still in an ice age.”
From July 4 to Aug. 15, visitors can also win an overnight stay at a local hotel by posting a picture from the app on Instagram. The museum will also award day passes to two runners-up in the contest each week.
Even after the exhibit ends in September, the app will still be available to educate museum visitors about climate change and the importance of ice for the sustainability of humankind.
“You come away with an appreciation for cold and ice and what it means for us as a species and I think that in itself is a huge accomplishment considering that we live in Canada … [where it’s] pretty cold and winter’s not everyone’s favourite season,” Young said.
Featured image by Eli Duern.
