MOTH ECLIPSE APP

In May ’24 we were invited to contribute a project and workshop to the Curious Town Festival for a second year and expanded on the concept that we’d previously presented and engaged their attendees with. The development also built upon the work we produced for Hastings Story Festival in 2023, the Broomgrove Eclipse. 

With developer Kester Sheridan we have designed a web AR (Augmented Reality) app in order to foster creativity, social connection, digital inclusion and engagement with nature by encouraging participants in workshops to create personlised digital moth artworks that become part of the apps content.

The project works on several different levels:

• Demystifying access to creative digital technology with a visible 2D artwork to 3D application pipeline. 

• Encouraging simplistic engaging play, mixing real world experiences with digital devices away from social media and gaming.

• Education around local Moth species, their habits, habitats and their general importance as pollinators in the wider ecosystem. Highlighting studies and facts for further discussion.

• Providing creative engagement to highlight connections between nature and one another leading to stronger social connections and conservation efforts amongst communities.

In workshops participants are encouraged to fill in moth wing templates by whatever creative means they choose, we provided materials and printed out patterns. This slow and mindful activity encourages discussions around themes of camouflage, warning patterns and beauty within nature helping the participants to define and personalise their designs.

Once the designs have been produced the creations are then photographed, digitized and uploaded to an online application to become part of the apps menu system which then forms the app’s UI. A QR code is generated as a trigger to access the app, also making it easily shareable.

As illustrated, once the user opens the app they have a menu where they can choose their own and others moths to form a moth eclipse (swarm) which they then view in augmented reality. The eclipse can contain as few or as many moths as the user wants. It is then possible for the user to photography or video their eclipse to keep, save and share through messaging and social media.

If you would like further information on the workshops and app for you own group, event or festival get in touch. 

We also have plans to expand the app to incorporate the full lifecycle of a moth and more focus on conservation and ecology of and for the important species.

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