From roe to salmon
A farmed salmon takes two to three years to grow. Sixty days as roe, a month on the yolk sac, followed by up to fifteen months in fresh water on land, then fourteen to twenty-two months in the sea before it weighs four to six kilos and has become one of the most popular foods in the world.
Norway has more than thirty aquaculture visitor centres, run by fish farmers on a display licence. The licence is free. In return, the holder has to show the public how fish farming is done and the various aspects of aquaculture. Hardanger Akvasenter, Lingalaks’ centre in Øystese, was one of the first in Norway, and Mount Visual designed and developed it in its entirety.
Among many audience attractions in the centre, we suggested an interactive station where visitors could explore all the stages of raising a salmon, from unfertilised roe to harvest.
One salmon, seven shapes.
A salmon changes shape and colour several times as it grows. Using one 3D model of a salmon and simply scaling it would be far from a truthful representation, so we developed highly realistic real-time 3D models of the salmon in each of the seven stages. We animated them from footage of real fish at that age.
The interactive solution is developed in Unity. The fish move in real time and react to the visitor’s screen gestures.
The Aqua Centre in Hardanger is primarily unmanned. So, we had to design everything to be sturdy, foolproof, and safe. For this interactive solution we use a built-in touch screen with Gorilla Glass and a TV screen that is mounted behind the wall, enabling the round cutout and the circular display we wanted. Above the user is a ceiling-mounted sound shower that provides narration in either Norwegian or English, which is heard only by the user. If you’re standing a few meters away looking at something else, you won’t hear a thing.
This installation is one of the most popular elements in the exhibition we designed while developing Hardanger Akvasenter. When Lingalaks opened Nordhordland Akvasenter in Knarvik, the same installation was made available there, unchanged.
Thank you to Hardanger Akvasenter and Lingalaks for trusting our creativity and knowledge of aquaculture.
The salmon are still swimming, both in Øystese and in Knarvik.