Five characters, Hugg, Happy, Fold, C-bot and Vizzle, play the main roles in the children’s experience for the new Juliana Children's Hospital. These little friends accompany the patients on their journey through the hospital and appear everywhere. They help the children feel that they are not alone. Every character has its own personality, and so there is always someone who tags along, distracts the children, makes them laugh or provides information.
In the most nerve-racking situations, such as the pre-operating room, the treatment rooms and the elevators, these characters come to life in moving projections and interactive animations. An interactive visual installation that reacts to the passers-by has never before been applied in an OR passageway.
The goal of the concept was to create a interactive wondrous world that would provide distraction. Research shows that a child-friendly, distracting environment reduces stress and the perception of pain in sick children, which helps them to recover sooner.
Airship Ronald McDonald House. Photo (c) Fred Ernst
Experience design Juliana Children's Hospital. Photo (c) Michael van Oosten
Hugg and Happy playing tennis. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
The Picnic, green zone. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
Projected animation at the pre-operating room. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
Interactive wall at a treatment room. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
Projected animation at the treatment room. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
Ground floor. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
Graphic design to distract children. Photo (c) Fred Ernst
Atrium with playship, ground floor. Photo (c) Michael van Oosten
Central atrium, ground floor. Photo (c) Michael van Oosten
Animation at the porthole of the lift. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
First floor. Photo (c) Wim Verbeek
Interior of the play airship at the Ronald McDonald House. Photo (c) Fred Ernst
