Unravel Quest | Full O’ Fish

Catching the Sky: How We Turned a Bridge into a AR Aquarium

What happens when you make art in Augmented Reality, add interactivity, make it accessible, and place it on a beautiful outdoor bridge? You get a sky Full O' Fish.

Vision

Interactive Art in Public Spaces

For Full O’ Fish, we wanted to challenge the passive nature of Augmented Reality art. We often see AR being applied onto a space and participants are awed by the experience, mostly through visuals and motion. What if art can be more interactive, and accessible?

We immediately thought of teamLab and their projection-mapped, interactive installations. That spark became the foundation for what Full O’ Fish would eventually become.

The Art

A Sky Full Of Fish

When we decided that the location will be at Sengkang Riverside Bridge, it was almost instantly that we knew we would fill the space up with fishes. We envisioned an AR aquarium where colourful fishes, jelly fishes, stingrays glide through the air around the bridge. And to complete the spectacle, a gigantic whale sailing across the sky! Every element is designed to accentuate the bridge and bring the space vividly to life.

Interactivity

Adopting a Familiar Action

We wanted to introduce a familiar concept. Something people would instantly recognize and intuitively understand while complementing our artistic vision. After extensive brainstorming, we landed on a merging mechanic.

In addition to the fishes flying around, there can be little fishes stranded on the bridge, needing your help. You can combine/merge them, evolve them, make them stronger, and then release them back into the sky. We felt that this was a natural fit for the scene, giving the experience a clear narrative and a sense of purpose behind each interaction on the bridge.

Coming Together

Full O' Fish

We launched during the school holidays to maximize foot traffic and reach families, targeting both intentional visitors and everyday passersby. We were able to engage people organically. Commuters, joggers, and families could stop, interact, and play on the spot.

The installation ran for exactly 9 days, from a Saturday to the next Sunday.

This is largely what the experience felt like. Most players were satisfied after catching and releasing a few fishes, then watching them join the rest in the sky. A typical session lasted around 15 minutes.

To encourage deeper engagement, we gave away limited-edition keychains to anyone who met the minimum fishes released criteria.

The 2nd Swim Run

From the Bridge to the Library

After the successful run of the first Full O' Fish , we were invited by the National Library to bring Full O' Fish to the National Library and the second quest was up for another week at the SG Alcove in the Central Public Library.

For this iteration, we adapted the experience to better utilise the space by placing and hiding fishes within the nooks and crannies of the bookshelves. Unfortunately, we had to remove the whale as it was too big to fit into that space.

It was a noticeably more comfortable experience compared to the bridge setup. The indoor library environment offered air-conditioning, which made longer play sessions easier and more enjoyable. The tighter, more contained space also changed how players engaged with the installation. Fishes are blocked by the shelves and partitions, making it hard to find.

Final Catch

What We Learned

By engaging and interacting with more people, we were able to look into what actually makes them stop, look, and try. What draws attention in a busy environment and what encourages spontaneous interaction. These insights were invaluable, and we believe they will help us in our subsequent quests.

Seeing players enjoy our work made us feel a deep sense of fulfillment and validation, knowing that the experience resonated with them in the way we had hoped. Our top player spent nearly an hour fully immersed in the experience, capturing, combining, and releasing every fish type in an effort to complete the set and climb the leaderboard.😁

With everything we’ve learned, we’re excited to see what we can come up with next.