THE BLUE GOLD CHALLENGE ©
Learning experiences that combine technology and entertainment

Défi de l’Or Bleu (Blue Gold Challenge) is an interactive edutainment attraction created for Cité des Rivières, a tourist-destination project of the Canadian city of Sherbrooke. The project’s theme is the Watershed and this attraction, which carries the theme, is scheduled for implementation in Phase 3 of the project.

The experience presents itself as a fantastic journey along a watershed. The object is for players to experience first-hand various aspects of a river as they follow it from its source to its run off into the sea. In reality, players explore a miniature indoor river through 12 modules of experience.

The 12 modules are:

  • The Watershed
  • The Water Cycle
  • Analyse This!
  • The Underground Watershed
  • The Emergency Control Room
  • The Bio Indicators
  • Irrigation
  • Aquaculture
  • Sharing the Resource
  • The Biological Purification Station
  • Drought and Flood
  • Dirty Snow

Guests become explorer-scientists on a mission to better understand, heal and support the river and its environment. Journeying in small groups, our heroes are called upon to diagnose situations and act accordingly. All along the way, they strive to accomplish specific activities by pulling together all their team’s resources.

In this fun and adventurous setting, players continuously face a mix of physical challenges, intellectual enigmas and obstacles both real and virtual.

Teams are directed from one of the twelve modules of experience to another. Each team will experience between 6 and 8 modules per adventure. Players are thus invited to return to complete their experience and try their hand at ever more challenging levels of play.

The team receives its mission orders at the entrance of each module. Players allocate the tasks amongst themselves before entering and then attempt to accomplish said mission within an allotted time frame. Once that time has expired, they exit the module and make their report on touch screens.

All along their journey, players are linked to an electronic playmaster by RFID technology. A radio-frequency chip is inserted into each player’s sceptre, a personalized multi-user gadget they receive at game-start.

Play facilitators accompany each team physically and/or electronically. Their level of intervention varies according to each team’s composition and needs. These facilitators have all the training required to make each player’s experience a success, from knowledge of content to group dynamics.

Sample Module
Module 7 : Irrigation

The Premise: 3 types of irrigation equipment need to be tested and graded: pivot, canon and sprinkler.

Your Mission:

  • Pump water to feed the irrigation equipment
  • Activate equipment
  • Irrigate agricultural lands
  • Collect water from the collectors
  • Grade the performance of the 3 types of equipment

Be aware: you must factor wind and rain in your analysis, as these factors may influence your report!

…And beware: You might just get splashed!

The experience in a few words:

  • A captivating quest, totally unique and interactive, accessible to all regardless of age and ability;
  • A series of learning experiences and experimentations, discoveries and challenges in a fun, exciting and safe environment
  • An attraction in which play and learn go hand-in-hand, where fun drives the environmental message.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Watershed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analyse This!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Irrigation