Global Multi-Experience Exhibit

Boeing’s exhibition partner needed to deliver a global-scale, fully immersive aerospace experience for the Smithsonian Institution. The challenge: 6 months to produce over a dozen interactive exhibits, each requiring unique hardware, software, content delivery, and multi-location support — all with centralized control. The internal teams and vendors alone could not scale fast enough with conventional app delivery.

A senior consultant, now the CEO and lead consultant at Pacific Northwest CTO, architected and led the platform strategy, technical execution, and physical integration of this expansive and complex multi-event, multi-nation exhibit.

Key innovations included:

• A custom CMS and asset delivery system that powered Unreal Engine and Node.js experiences across dozens of kiosks
• Dynamic asset control by event, station, and time — all centrally administered
• An Unreal plugin to enable HTML UI overlays and real-time asset sync via local update launchers
• Full hardware/software integration including Microsoft Kinect motion tracking, Arduino-controlled displays, and a multi-display Pepper’s Ghost illusion system
• Coordination of 15 developers, 5 artists, and 5 vendors across subsystems
• Experience highlights included:
• • Multi-user flight training simulation using Kinect teaching how to fly like a bird in flock formation
  • A configurable aerodynamics racing simulator
  • How food is digested in space using AR and Kinect tracking
  • A space elevator experience and multi-user orbital debris challenge
  • A 6K timeline wall, NASA learning kiosks, and a real-world wind tunnel simulation
  • Many others - all tied into one custom CMS solution

• Delivered a full-floor immersive exhibit within the Smithsonian on schedule
• Enabled ongoing global deployment via modular, updateable content strategy
• Platform continues to operate in multiple international locations
• The core architecture now serves as a repeatable model for other exhibition deployments