TRIUMF Lab, Canada's Particle Accelerator Centre and home to the world’s largest cyclotron, leads research in cosmology & dark matter, particle physics, nuclear physics, molecular & materials Science, nuclear medicine, electronics & radiation testing, and nuclear astrophysics.

Working with TRIUMF as an Arts & Culture Curator, faculty member Scott Mallory led the production of a new virtual media platform for exploring TRIUMF's rarely seen ISAC-II (Isotope Separator & Accelerator II) experimental facilities, which use superconducting technology to analyze phenomena such as high-energy cosmic events and element formation in stars.

Putting together a team of cross-disciplinary creatives from the Emily Carr community with backgrounds in architecture, interaction design, film and curation, they developed an integrated media approach to reimagine virtual "guided tours" and create new public access points to science. TRIUMF published an article premiering the platform and the story and technical breakdown of the process.

The team used the Matterport Pro2 camera which uses artificial intelligence to capture 3D model scans and 360 HDR panoramic photography of the ISAC-II space simultaneously. The digital assets, along with 3D models designed by TRIUMF, were separated into industrial design, visual effects and animation workflows, and then re-integrated into Matterport's immersive 3D navigation interface to create a customized learning experience of TRIUMF science. See behind the scenes.

This launch brings TRIUMF among a growing number of laboratories in the global physics community starting to use new media for virtual audiences. Mallory continues to work with TRIUMF on communicating the value of science to inspire discovery and innovation, and to make science more widely accessible.