When the virtual met the physical: Building a digital exhibition

Immersive technologies offer hospitality and tourism organisations new ways to interact with their audiences. They also offer new learning opportunities for students. Haaga-Helia’s hospitality & tourism management students built a digital layer to an immersive photo exhibition as part of the Creative Hospitality and Tourism course.

Winter Circus by Hurjaruuth

How to best enhance physical experiences with digital layers? That is the question Haaga-Helia’s hospitality & tourism management students sought to answer in their recent project, commissioned by Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth.

Based at the Cable Factory, Helsinki, Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth specialises in producing dance and contemporary circus performances for children and families. With over 40 years of history, Hurjaruuth is a trailblazer at the forefront of performing arts.
Hurjaruuth is perhaps best known for their annual Winter Circus, the largest contemporary circus performance in Finland, taking place at the Erkko Stage of Dance House Helsinki. This year, the Winter Circus celebrates its 30 year anniversary.

Adding digital layers to physical experiences

The exhibition consisted of 30 photographs from the past Winter Circuses, captured by Hurjaruuth’s photographer-light designer Riku Virtanen. The physical exhibition space was the Glass Courtyard of the Dance House, which opened its doors for the first time to a photography installation. The exhibition’s concept is inspired by the idea of a ‘mobile’. A mobile refers to the object hanging above a baby’s crib, designed to entertain the infant. Following this same idea, the photographs in the exhibition are suspended from the ceiling.

To complement the physical exhibition, Haaga-Helia’s hospitality and tourism management students were tasked with creating a digital exhibition. The aim was to offer additional layers to the on- and off-line visitor experience. The virtual gallery enables greater accessibility and wider reach for the exhibition, being available 24/7 and providing interactive elements as well as diverse supplementary content such as videos and image captions.

Students started by heading out to the Dance House to explore the physical exhibition space together with the commissioner. They were provided with brand guidelines from the commissioners, and briefed on their importance. After this, students planned and executed their concepts for the digital exhibition in small groups. The exhibition was created with Arilyn’s Virtual Art Gallery -tool, which enables artists to create digital versions of their galleries. The students were also tasked with creating promotional material to inform visitors about the digital exhibition, as well as a survey to measure how visitors felt about the experience.

Rapid prototyping and iterative development

The project spanned over four weeks from project brief, ideation and planning to final concept delivery to the commissioner. Each student group planned their own theme and narrative structure for the digital exhibition, adding creative elements to delight the visitor’s journey. The students also considered how the digital exhibition would work both in tandem with the physical experience, and as a standalone experience.

The final product was brought to life through multiple rounds of rapid prototyping and iterative development, picking the best components and ideas from each group’s work and combining them into a holistic digital experience. In line with the physical experience’s ‘mobile’ theme, the digital exhibition is aimed for families with small children and plays with movement and positioning of the artwork.

After the project was delivered to the commissioner, the students had to write an individual reflection on the project, encouraging them to think critically about their learning experiences. By reflecting on what they have learned, students could identify their strengths and areas for improvement, which promotes self-awareness and personal as well as professional growth.

Based on our experience, these types of commissioned assignments help students develop metacognitive skills, enabling them to plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning strategies effectively and are a great addition to traditional learning processes.

Transforming theoretical knowledge into practical skills

The project showcased that combining virtual elements with physical experiences requires careful planning and consideration from multiple perspectives to recognise where and how digitalisation adds actual value to guests’ experience (Ashton, Filimonau & Tuomi 2024).

In creativity, coming up with ideas is often the easier part. More difficult is filtering out what actually works from what does not work, as it often means letting go of something the idea-generators thought amazing. In creative writing, there is even the kill your darlings -saying to illustrate the process (Masterclass 2021): don’t get too attached to individual ideas, but rather, try to focus on the big picture.

Learning by doing, especially through projects like creating a digital exhibition for the Winter Circus, offers numerous benefits for students. A hands-on approach to learning fosters deeper understanding and retention of knowledge as students actively apply theory to practice. By working on a digital exhibition, students also developed problem-solving skills as they navigated the challenges of design, content creation, and technology integration.

Such projects also encourage collaboration and communication, as students often work in teams, sharing ideas and feedback. The creative aspect of designing an exhibition also allows students to express themselves and explore their interests, making learning more enjoyable and meaningful. Overall, learning by doing transforms theoretical knowledge into practical skills, preparing students for the ‘real world’.

Picture: Haaga-Helia