Aquascope

Aquascope is a groundbreaking achievement that redefines what a water park can be, seamlessly blending cutting-edge multimedia, immersive storytelling, and interactive technology into an aquatic environment – something never seen before at this scale.
Here is a quick summary of what make this project unique and standing out:

1. A World-First in Immersive Water Park Experiences: Aquascope breaks traditional water park conventions by integrating large-scale projection mapping, interactive visuals, and synchronised water and lighting effects into its attractions. It offers guests a level of immersion usually found in theme parks and entertainment venues, setting a new benchmark for the industry.

2. Innovative AV integration in a challenging environment: Unlike conventional projection mapping projects, Aquascope overcomes the technical difficulties of a water-rich, chlorinated environment. The use of hopper-type control rooms, dedicated air systems, and real-time auto-calibration projection ensures stunning visuals with long-term reliability.

3. Pioneering 3D Auto-Calibration Technology: This project marked the first-ever deployment of Modulo Pi’s 3D auto-calibration solution. The system enables precise, automated projector alignment on complex surfaces, ensuring perfect mapping on a 270° cylindrical screen. This breakthrough technology streamlines maintenance while ensuring a flawless visitor experience.

4. Perfect Synchronisation of AV & Special Effects: Aquascope takes multisensory storytelling to the next level, where video, sound, water jets, and light interact dynamically. Such fusion of digital and physical effects are an industry first in water park design.

5. International Recognition & Exceptional Visitor Engagement: With over 150,000 visitors in just six weeks, Aquascope has already proven its immense appeal. The water park already received multiple awards in the theme parks industry.

Aquascope is more than a water park. It is a technological breakthrough that merges immersive entertainment and aquatic attractions in a way never done before. By pushing the boundaries of AV innovation and guest experience, it sets a new global standard for water-based entertainment.

Video mapping is at the heart of the Aquascope experience. The venue includes a 200 m² water pool, encircled by a 270° panoramic screen towering nearly 5 meters high. A multimedia show unfolds on the 165 m² screen, brought to life by 5 x Barco 4K22 projectors and the Modulo Kinetic media server, delivering a resolution of 44 million pixels.

Another area offers a dreamlike cavern featuring a 300 m² video mapping installation, based on 4 x Barco 4K video projectors, powered by Modulo Kinetic for a resolution of 33 million pixels.

Other parts of the Aquascope feature underwater LED floor made of Absen AW2.8 LED panels.
Timecoded water effects are seamlessly integrated and interacting with the immersive projections, as well as with audio and light effects. For example, falling meteorites projected onto the panoramic screen trigger bubbling effects in the pool as the meteorites hit the water.

Another area features luminescent water, colourful water jets, a water curtain displaying glyphs, and two interactive beaches where particles respond to audience movements.

Lighting effects synchronise with the audio and video content across different areas of the indoor water park, enhancing the immersive experience. Additionally, underwater lighting adds a captivating touch, elevating the ambiance even further. Gear includes: Chauvet Professional COLORado Solo and Ovation, Prolights Mosaico and SGM Lighting pieces.

The main challenge in developing Aquascope was transposing the immersive multimedia experience – Futuroscope’s signature – into a water park environment. Unlike traditional indoor attractions, this unique setting introduced harsh conditions such as humidity, chlorinated air, and complex projection surfaces. Overcoming these obstacles required innovative technical solutions to ensure flawless audiovisual integration while maintaining durability and ease of maintenance.

Key Challenges & Solutions:

1. Harsh Environmental Conditions: The chlorinated atmosphere posed a significant risk of corrosion to the audiovisual equipment, including video-projectors. Hopper-type control rooms were installed above the pools to isolate projectors from the ambient air. Additionally, dedicated air conditioning systems ensured a constant supply of fresh air, protecting the equipment from damage.

2. Complex Projection Mapping in Water Park Environment: Achieving pixel-perfect projection on a 270° cylindrical screen in Kiné-eau and mapping visuals onto the rugged surfaces of La Crique. FMD worked with Modulo Pi’s 3D auto-calibration solution, used for the first time, allowing automatic, real-time alignment of projectors. A 3D scan of Kiné-eau was transformed into a digital mesh, enabling seamless projection calibration across the massive panoramic screen.

3. Long-Term Maintenance & Recalibration in a Challenging Setting: Maintaining projection quality over time in an environment where humidity, air conditions, quantity of visitors… could cause misalignment. Modulo Pi’s 3D auto-calibration system was permanently installed with several PoE cameras, enabling automated recalibration whenever needed, ensuring a consistently sharp and immersive experience with minimal manual intervention.

4. Synchronising Multimedia & Interactive Water Effects: Creating a cohesive, immersive experience where water effects react in real time to projected visuals. Using Modulo Kinetic’s advanced timecoding and synchronisation tools, effects were precisely coordinated, enhancing immersion.

By tackling these challenges with cutting-edge technology and innovative engineering, teams of FMD successfully brought Futuroscope’s multimedia DNA into the Aquascope, an unprecedented water park experience, setting new standards for immersive aquatic attractions.