Arctic Adventure: Exploring with Technology”--an augmented learning experience at the Museum of Science, Boston -- Context -- As one of the world's largest science centers and New England’s most attended cultural institution, the Museum of Science, Boston introduces 1.5 million visitors a year to science, technology, engineering, and math via dynamic programs and hundreds of interactive exhibits. As a leader in the world’s museum community, the institution uses its role as educator and communicator to bring diverse communities together to learn, share, and consider our collective role in the future of our planet. The Museum of Science carries out its mission--"To inspire a lifelong love of science in everyone"--by transforming the nation’s relationship with science and technology through world-class exhibits, industry-leading curriculum, and innovative programming. In 2017 the museum of science embarked on an ambitious ten-year agenda to renovate its renowned Blue Wing, comprising over 100,000 square feet of exhibition space including classic galleries on dinosaurs and space exploration, to introduce new exhibitions and programming on computational thinking, engineering, big data, food systems, and climate change. The Blue Wing renovation is the largest in the museum’s 190-year history, ushering in not only a bold new vision for exhibitions and programming but also integrating significant upgrades and updates to the facility's infrastructure. -- A Collaborative Design Process -- With its new permanent exhibit, 'Arctic Adventure: Exploring with Technology,' built during the peak of the 2020 global pandemic and opened in December 2020, the Museum of Science challenged its in-house staff and Moment Factory to collaborate on the creation of a new paradigm for “awe-inspiring immersive, interactive content and projection environments that would create meaningful experiential learning opportunities” for visitors of all ages and abilities. An important objective of the exhibit was to signal a sea-change to visitors--that they are transported into a very different environment than they've ever experienced at the Museum of Science. Simultaneously, the exhibit was intended to serve as an inspiration and demonstration zone to the institution's patrons and donors of the possibilities that may be dreamed and realized throughout the museum. The collaborative design process positioned the Client and Moment Factory as partners and collaborators, investing in an iterative process of prototyping and testing approaches and solutions while building on the success of previous experiences to incorporate strategies to make the exhibitions as multi-sensory and engaging as possible. The notion of "content" was exploded to include the use of sound, light, touch, vibration, and temperature--all synchronized to create the most immersive and engaging experiences possible. Guests entering the exhibit’s four principal engagement zones metamorphose from spectator to actor, from observer to do-er, to become arctic researchers. Using both analogs, physical and digital technologies such as drones, hydrophones, ground-penetrating radar, and ice core drills, visitors explore the dynamic, constantly changing environment of the far north. -- Sustainability and Experiential Learning -- The Arctic Adventure experience illustrates the many ways our global climate is changing--creating diverse 'augmented learning' zones that empower visitors to undertake research to comprehend how 800,000 years of climate history are recorded in the ice, and how to track and interpret animal behaviors as they adapt to face unprecedented arctic warming. For the Boston Museum of Science, the goal was to encourage visitors to interact with real technologies being used by modern researchers in their efforts to explore and measure climatic changes in the Arctic. By empowering visitors to play an active role in the exhibit, they are better positioned to understand not only the various uses and limitations of these technologies but also how they may be used to better understand our changing climate. Moment Factory’s design team addressed the client’s needs by developing an exhibit that pushes the boundaries of experiential learning. Focusing the design of the exhibit around the visitor's experience, Arctic Adventures allows visitors to uncover information, learn and discover at their own pace. This approach leads to a more effective and memorable educational experience than those centered around the didactic communication of scientific information. By leveraging cutting-edge light, sound, visuals, and interactive technologies, the team was able to create a dynamic and immersive exhibition that invites visitors to learn through play. Arctic Adventures features four distinct zones that each foster unique opportunities for intuitive learning. Visitors become polar explorers who can trek across virtual ice fields with ground-penetrating radar and search for wildlife with interactive tools. By inviting visitors to be active participants rather than passive observers, guests can connect with the environment and technology in a more meaningful way. -- Creativity, Innovation, and Functionality -- The design solution for Arctic Adventures was born from the cross-pollination of several media, inspired by video game story worlds, game-engine design, interactive technology, and large-scale video projection to create a living, breathing environment that responds to visitors in real-time. This interdisciplinary approach was founded on the following experiential pillars: engaging the visitor through immersive storytelling techniques, encouraging discovery using gamified exhibition design, and empowering visitors with hands-on experience manipulating technology. These pillars work seamlessly to demonstrate how visitors gain meaningful learning through play. Upon entering the exhibit, visitors are instantly immersed into the polar frontier, confronting a wall of real ice. Sound, lighting, visual content, and set design are all used harmoniously to produce an artistic reinterpretation of the Arctic environment. An overarching art direction allows the content to be simultaneously creative and playful yet explanatory and educational, while the generative, real-time content evokes the natural rhythms of daylight, seasons, and the weather. The Animals zone allows visitors to use different technologies to locate wildlife in an arctic landscape. Generative real-time content powers arctic weather events that suddenly take over the vista, inspiring an appreciation of how extreme weather such as blizzards can make arctic exploration more challenging. The use of generative content creates a responsive and dynamic Arctic environment that captivates visitors while reinforcing the educational message. Instead of overwhelming visitors with information, the interactive Moment Factory developed an approach that empowers visitors to make their own decisions. Information is segmented throughout the exhibit to allow visitors to uncover the knowledge organically throughout their journey. By providing a variety of routes and outcomes, visitors can learn from their failures while feeling in control of their path through the exhibit. A key element of the design solution involves providing visitors opportunities to directly handle many technologies used in Arctic research, deepening their understanding of the constraints and capabilities of each technology. One such example takes place in the Navigating zone, where visitors must work in teams to maneuver a glacier and avoid letting equipment fall into the crevasses. Equipped with ground-penetrating radar and satellite maps, visitors apply real-life technologies and data to uncover crevasses hidden under the glacier's surface. To heighten the sense of realism and foster collaboration, visitors must collaborate to locate each crevasse and cache. By adding elements of communication and risk, visitors are immediately engaged in the experience. Ultimately, each of the design solutions works together to foster an emotional connection with the exhibition content and shape an unforgettable visitor experience.