Synesthesia refers to the phenomenon of experiencing one sense when another is triggered.
Clinically, it can include people who experience colours when listening to music, or who associate shapes with certain scents. Plenty of video games have sought to replicate the synesthetic experience, while an increasing number of immersive experiences offer their own takes on synesthesia. Toronto’s Arcadia Earth, open now on Front Street West near the Stackt Market, is the latest venue for would-be synesthetes in the city. And it’s a pretty nifty one at that.
A series of themed rooms – the Borg-like e-waste room (replete with Game of Thrones-style killer chair), the marine conservation-themed “bycatch” room, and others – shepherd Arcadia visitors on an environmentally conscious journey through various earthbound environments.
Consciously seeking to both educate and entertain, Arcadia Earth is a guided journey, replete with augmented reality app (they’ll lend you a tablet if you don’t feel like downloading it on your phone) that “summons” digital objects into the real-world space.
Our favourite room was the aquatic-themed room consisting of a series of hanging rope nets. At various places on the floor, holding your camera up to a scannable symbol conjures a moving, animated model of an undersea creature, which proceeds to swim through the room. It’s the same basic tech that made Pokémon GO such a splash all those years ago, but here put to more impressive use in a purpose-built environment. The combination of Augmented Reality video with real-world props makes all the difference.
We are also fans of the (seemingly temporary) WWF-themed conservation space, where hopping on certain points on the floor throws you into a digital recreation of a natural environment (both the floor and ceiling are made up of ultra-HD screens). Within moments you can travel from deep into an old growth forest out onto on a snowy, polar bear-friendly Arctic plain, with narration explaining WWF conservation efforts aimed at preserving these incredible environments. Though educational in nature, Arcadia is never boring, and in fact the educational aspects are integral to the thrill of experience which Arcadia delivers on.
Credit especially to the diverse collective of artists who have contributed to Arcadia, including Samuelle Green (behind the papercraft “beehive” cave), Von Wong (whose E-Waste Generator, made up of over 5,000 lbs of electronic waste, is the “Borg” room I mentioned earlier), and Pamela Moulton (who collected the “ghost” fishing gear that makes up the aquatic-themed room).
Arcadia Earth is far from the first immersive experience in this city, and while we might love our escape rooms and Star Trek simulators, we appreciate Arcadia‘s commitment to environmentalism and its collaboration with artists.
Even in a sea of dazzling, tech-heavy venues, it stands out as something designed with care, and with a philosophy that goes beyond pure entertainment. With its latest space – a narrow corridor resembling the “shark tunnel” at Ripley’s, but surrounded by screens instead of windows – there’s never been a better time to check Arcadia out.
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For tickets and more on the Arcadia Earth experience, click here.
