Producer · 2026

Wiremu's Tour

An interactive wildlife education experience introducing children to Aotearoa New Zealand's native wildlife, ecosystems and conservation.

Role

Producer

Audience

Children aged 6 to 10

Partner

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

Outcome

Week-long public trial

01 / THE PROJECT

Bringing physical creativity into a digital experience.

Wiremu's Tour is an educational interactive experience designed to introduce children to native wildlife, ecosystems and conservation through digital storytelling.

The experience combines a 2D pop-up storybook visual style with physical colouring activities. Children can colour an animal page, scan it using a webcam and see their coloured animal appear within the digital experience while learning about the species.

The project was developed with Willowbank Wildlife Reserve and was trialled with visitors over one week.

02 / MY ROLE

Producing around a fixed public trial.

My role involved coordinating the multidisciplinary development team while managing the relationship with Willowbank and preparing the project for use by a real public audience.

Production Planning

Scheduling, milestones, priorities and development planning around the public trial.

Team Coordination

Coordinating programming, art, animation, research and technical development.

Stakeholder Communication

Managing communication and requirements with Willowbank Wildlife Reserve throughout development and trial planning.

Risk Management

Identifying technical dependencies and reprioritising development when they threatened delivery.

Trial Planning

Coordinating hardware, staffing, location and practical requirements for the week-long Willowbank trial.

Future Development

Supporting discussions around continued use, funding and potential development beyond the university project.

The Team

Built collaboratively.

Wiremu's Tour was developed by a multidisciplinary team across programming, art, animation, technical art and research. As producer, I coordinated work across the team while keeping development aligned with the requirements of the Willowbank public trial.

Production Challenge 01

Managing a critical technical dependency.

The colouring-page scanning system was central to the experience but also became the project's largest technical risk leading into the Willowbank trial.

Wiremu's Tour colouring page scanning system

The Challenge

The scanning feature connected the physical colouring activity to the digital experience, making it one of the project's most distinctive features. Technical difficulties with the pipeline therefore threatened a core part of the planned public experience.

My Response

I treated the scanning pipeline as a priority dependency, adjusted production priorities around it and helped bring in external technical guidance from Adrian, who had relevant experience with the scanning approach.

The Outcome

The scanning system was functioning for the Willowbank trial and became one of the strongest points of public engagement, with children able to see their coloured animals appear in the experience.

Production Challenge 02

Delivering to a fixed public deadline.

Unlike an internal university milestone, the Willowbank trial had confirmed public dates that could not simply move when development became difficult.

The Challenge

The project needed to be stable enough for visitors while also accounting for the practical requirements of running an interactive experience inside a wildlife reserve.

My Response

I prioritised the core experience and coordinated the practical requirements around the trial, including the display, webcam, audio, computer setup, staffing and physical installation.

The Outcome

The project was installed at Willowbank and operated for visitors from 28 September to 4 October 2026.

Wiremu's Tour public trial setup at Willowbank

Public trial setup at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.

Production Challenge 03

Seeing the project used by a real audience.

Public delivery revealed behaviours and practical issues that were difficult to reproduce during internal development.

What Happened

Children lined up to see their coloured animals appear in the experience, some visitors returned specifically to use it again, and parents regularly photographed or filmed the interaction.

What We Learned

Increased visitor numbers also exposed practical issues. Dialogue sometimes needed to be skipped when queues formed, showing how pacing that worked during development could behave differently in a public environment.

Production Value

The trial reinforced that delivering an interactive project involves more than reaching feature complete. Audience flow, reliability, environment and practical operation all become part of production once the work leaves the development team.

Delivered at Willowbank

Built for a real audience.

Wiremu's Tour ran as a week-long public trial at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, where children could colour physical animal sheets, scan them and see their creations appear inside the digital experience.

Project Credits

Wiremu's Tour was created collaboratively by a multidisciplinary student team. My role on the project was producer. Artwork, programming, animation, educational content and other creative assets shown on this page are credited to their respective project team members.