Whaitake (In Development)
Introduction
Details
Credits
The Challenge
Throughout history, culturally significant places have served as spaces for gathering, storytelling, learning, and connection. For Whaitake, the first of these is the Māori wharenui. The challenge is how to translate these living experiences into spatial computing while preserving tikanga, evoking manaakitanga, and encouraging genuine participation without losing cultural depth or meaning.
The Approach
Whaitake is a spatial storytelling platform where immersive cultural experiences emerge within the user's physical environment. Rather than beginning with menus or screens, visitors encounter a digital threshold that invites them to cross into another place. The first experience recreates a Māori wharenui, where architecture, kōrero, taonga, and interaction are woven together through kaupapa Māori principles.
Every element, from spatial layout and environmental storytelling to interactive taonga and spoken narratives, is designed to encourage exploration, reflection, and participation rather than passive observation.
Development is focused on establishing a flexible platform capable of supporting multiple cultural experiences while ensuring tikanga and manaakitanga are embedded into the Māori prototype from its foundation.
The Outcome
Whaitake is designed as a platform for creating immersive, place-based storytelling experiences that honour cultural knowledge while embracing new forms of interaction through spatial computing. Its first implementation is a Māori wharenui, developed in partnership with cultural advisors as a prototype for respectful digital storytelling.
Future experiences could extend to museums, heritage sites, educational spaces, environmental storytelling, and other Indigenous communities wishing to share their own stories through immersive spatial experiences.
Conceptual imagery was created using AI-assisted tools to visualize the spatial experience and early design direction. All wharenui elements, carving designs (pou), and cultural components will be hand-crafted in collaboration with cultural advisors to honor tikanga and ensure authenticity.
