The interactive art of Omega Mart
What makes Omega Mart so special is the integration of technology, especially in the realm of gamification. Game elements create an engaging and interactive experience.
Jill Mendoza has been involved with the exhibition engineering team of Omega Mart from the beginning.
"Technology allows us to let people experience things that were previously unthinkable. Think of worlds from movies or paintings. Now you can actually participate in such a world," she explains.
Playing in a fictional supermarket
At Omega Mart, RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification) plays a key role. For three dollars, you can purchase an Omega Access Card. This allows you to take an interactive journey through the installation. The card functions as an employee badge in this fictional supermarket, and by using it at various points, you unlock videos, activate puzzles, and discover hidden stories that unravel the mystery of Omega Mart.
Gamification at its best
RFID consists of two RFID tags that communicate with each other when they are close by. The technology is not new and is used in various areas of the cultural sector, such as collection management. What is special about Meow Wolf is the way they make this technology part of their storytelling.
The Omega Access Card makes the experience more personal and immersive. As you navigate through Omega Mart, you collect achievements that are stored on the card. Mendoza explains how visitors can even take over entire rooms, with lights, sounds, and screens responding to the actions they perform with the card. "This is gamification at its best, where visitors don't just look at art but fully interact with it."
Data helps improve
Mendoza explains that the data collected via the RFID cards helps them improve the exhibition. "We adjusted our systems based on how visitors used the card," she says. A complete restructuring of the game mechanism ensured that more people reached the various checkpoints in the exhibition. This enriched the experience for the visitors."
Mendoza mentions another advantage. "It allows you to track and build upon the visitor's experience toward greater rewards or experiences, without requiring them to sign up with an email address or phone number."
Jill has just graduated from the University of Nevada in Entertainment Engineering & Design. She knows a lot about adding a narrative layer around technology. In this video, she asks you a question to help you get started on setting up something similar for your organization:
Meow Wolf is very popular in America. It shows that the audience is ready for these kinds of immersive forms. For museums and other cultural institutions, there is a huge opportunity here to reach new, young audiences and enrich their offerings.
Mendoza: "It's really exciting to see how people engage in a physical space as if it's one big video game. That enthusiasm fuels much of my passion and drive to work in this industry."
Are you curious about the episode of 'Culture Shift' where a panel of Dutch tech and culture experts discuss this exhibition and immersive techniques? In this video, you can watch the entire podcast episode.
Podcast Culture Shift
In the second season of the podcast 'Culture Shift,' we speak with a different international pioneer in the field of culture and technology in each episode. Think of innovations around digital art, AI, and new business models. How do they approach it, and what is the significant added value for their audience and organization?
Host Anic van Damme and sidekick Splinter Chabot discuss this with tech and culture experts from home and abroad. And they ask the question: what inspiration can we in the Netherlands draw from these innovative examples?
One of the episodes is about Omega Mart. How Meow Wolf uses smart storytelling and RFID technology to immerse visitors even more in another world.
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