Chaudière Falls Augmented Reality App

The Challenge

Chaudière Falls in Ottawa, Ontario is home to Canada’s first hydroelectric generating station. After a years-long project to turn this historic technology into a state-of-the-art underground facility, Hydro Ottawa opened it to the public for the first time in over 100 years. Designed to protect wildlife and generate clean energy for the local community, Chaudière Falls is a unique blend of innovation, history, and natural beauty.

Hydro Ottawa wanted to draw visitors to their updated facility and educate them about the falls. To achieve, this they decided to experiment with an augmented reality experience. the goal was to use the physical features of the falls to trigger additional information on visitors’ smartphones, allowing them to take self-guided tours with a device they already own. But without software development expertise in-house, they chose to work with two other standout Ottawa-based companies: Iversoft and Banfield.

The Solution

We worked closely with Banfield to combine our ability to design, develop, and launch forward-thinking digital solutions with their skills in marketing and creative. Together, we created Visit Chaudière Falls. The iOS and Android augmented reality app features clean and engaging UX/UI design, custom animations that play over the landscape, and multiple language choices.

Visitors simply click the AR button when they come across a location marker at select landmarks like the Ring Dam, the Ottawa River, and the safe Eel passage. Built with accessibility in mind, the information can also be found by clicking through the location map within the app. This allows anyone to learn more, even if they decide to play around in the app at home or can’t physically approach the markers.

Initially, Hydro Ottawa wanted to use the physical landmarks around the falls as the AR trigger rather than location markers. While we were excited by this idea, we quickly realized during the research phase of the project that it wouldn’t be possible in this location. Having four distinct season, Ottawa presents unique challenges. From trees dropping leaves to massive snow drifts, the physical attributes of the falls change radically over the year — meaning AR function would be inconsistent. Thankfully, we were able to use our expertise to guide Hydro Ottawa to a solution that would work year round before wasting time and effort on a product that wouldn’t serve their needs.