In October of 2014, we launched the 50-foot wide interactive "Living Garden" that offers creative play and invites pediatric hospital patients into a fantasy world. The scale and scope of the gesture-based installation is unprecedented in healthcare design. The wall features 45, thin bezel, NEC HD LED screens, five interactive zones powered by Kinect 2 cameras, 3D animation, sound design and artistic renderings of animals, plants weather and iconic buildings.

The Nemours / Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children (AIDHC), partnered with OUVA to create this interactive experience; one that would "engage, delight, and "WOW" families and children." This gesture-based interactive wall display would be nested inside a dramatic five story Atrium Lobby labeled “The Discovery Zone”.

‍Collaborative Design With Patients and Therapists

For most children, treatment in any hospital can be stressful and scary. The Delaware children’s hospital wanted to create interactive entertainment and diversion for its young hospital patients who needed to be uplifted and inspired.  AIDHC hospital leadership was passionate about using OUVA's expertise in marrying innovative motion-based technology and beautiful studio-quality animation to encourage patients to get some healthy physical play. The hospital team chose the narrative of "growth" to inspire our design, and gave us a 50 foot curved wall as a canvas.

After nearly a year of creative discovery, the OUVA team of gesturetech software engineers, animators and storytellers developed the Discovery Zone Wall. Our design team collaborated with members of the Hospital’s Youth Advisory Council, who took an active role in designing animated creatures and their interactive behaviors. We also worked with pediatric doctors and physical therapists to incorporate gestures to engage children with limited mobility and physical challenges to encourage them to move and increase their range of motion.

The finished digital display features a living garden where children can use their movements to combine seeds to grow plants spawned from a system of "engineered DNA"; through their own motion, they create unique plants that grow over time. A series of weather systems including rain, sunshine and snow invite children to interact without getting wet, sunburnt or cold.

There are multiple interactive digital creatures, with unique personalities triggered by different interactions and movement. The interactive wall cycles, in real time, from morning to evening with beautiful bioluminescent elements at night. Iconic architectural buildings are scattered throughout the background landscape.