Transforming airport dwell time into an opportunity for cultural connection, economic empowerment, and meaningful storytelling.
Project Overview
Trails is an immersive storytelling experience at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) that bridges Indigenous cultures, interactive media, and airport retail. Designed to transform moments of transit into opportunities for cultural connection, the project reimagines how passengers experience place and time while traveling.
The experience unfolds in two parts: immersive tunnels along the moving walkways that passively engage travelers through ambient projections of nature and story, and interactive storytelling booths near boarding gates that invite passengers to actively explore Indigenous history through a dynamic digital timeline.
By weaving together cultural storytelling, spatial interaction, and commercial opportunity, Trails explores how airports can serve as platforms for meaningful engagement and economic empowerment.
Cultural Education & Representation
Share museum-style Indigenous narratives and visual languages through motion, sound, and spatial storytelling.
Economic Empowerment
Create visibility for Indigenous-owned small businesses and retail partners within airport environments.
Enhanced Passenger Experience
Use immersive media and interactive moments to turn dwell time into meaningful engagement and emotional connection.
The Context
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is the Largest airport in British Columbia, Canada by passenger traffic, number of airlines, and destination. It is the second largest in the country behind Toronto, Pearson.
Located on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam Nation, Vancouver International Airport serves as a major hub for trans-Pacific travel connecting Asia, Oceania, and North America.
While YVR features Indigenous artwork and artifacts as powerful symbols of Vancouver’s cultural identity, the ways passengers can engage with these pieces are often limited and passive.
Indigenous-owned brands and businesses remain underrepresented. Greater economic collaboration would align community benefits with Vancouver’s broader social and cultural objectives.
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Research Process
I conducted a series of interviews with travelers, staff, and industry professionals. The goal was to uncover behavioral patterns, emotional needs, and operational challenges that could shape a meaningful experience for both passengers and Indigenous partners.
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Staff Interviews
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Subject Expert Interviews
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Guerilla Interviews
Quick, on-site conversations with travelers in concourses and gate areas to capture first impressions, travel emotions, and behaviors during idle time. These insights helped define how passengers move, pause, and interact in between flights.
Quick, on-site conversations with travelers in concourses and gate areas to capture first impressions, travel emotions, and behaviors during idle time. These insights helped define how passengers move, pause, and interact in between flights.
Quick, on-site conversations with travelers in concourses and gate areas to capture first impressions, travel emotions, and behaviors during idle time. These insights helped define how passengers move, pause, and interact in between flights.
Key Insights
As I gathered stories from passengers, small business owners and airport staff, patterns began to emerge.
Indigenous voices emphasized that representation must extend beyond displaying art. It should involve co-creation, cultural approval, and long-term collaboration with Indigenous-owned businesses and artists.
Passengers see airports as liminal, transitional spaces, which are often disconnected from the culture of their destination. However, interviews with YVR brand strategists reveal an opportunity for airports to serve as cultural introductions.
Interviews with YVR retail and brand partners highlighted that authentic stories drive purchasing decisions. Travelers are more likely to explore or buy when they understand the meaning behind a product or brand.
Airport visitors vary in time, attention, and mobility. Research shows that ambient, passive experiences capture travelers in motion, while interactive installations appeal to those with more dwell time.
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Secondary research revealed that people respond best to ambient experiences: soft light, gentle auditory cues. These elements reduce travel stress and encourage lingering.
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Concept Development
Building on the insights gathered, I explored how spatial design, motion, and storytelling could merge into a cohesive airport experience. The concept evolved into a two-part system of immersive tunnels and interactive storytelling booths, designed to engage travelers at different levels of attention and time.
Systems Diagram
Visualizations
Two modes of storytelling — passive and active.
Immersive Tunnels
Storytelling Booths
Located along moving walkways, the tunnels use projection and subtle ambient soundscapes to envelop travelers in scenes inspired by Vancouver’s landscapes. The projections respond to walking speed and ambient light levels, creating a rhythmic sense of journey and calm.
Positioned near gate waiting areas, the booths invite travelers to engage more deeply. A large interactive timeline allows users to explore Indigenous stories, histories, and contemporary initiatives. Each booth connects digital storytelling and narratives to Indigenous-owned brands and artists within the terminal.
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Landscape scenes created using World Machine and rendered in Unreal Engine 5
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Visualizations
Two modes of storytelling — passive and active.
Immersive Tunnels
Storytelling Booths
Located along moving walkways, the tunnels use projection and subtle ambient soundscapes to envelop travelers in scenes inspired by Vancouver’s landscapes. The projections respond to walking speed and ambient light levels, creating a rhythmic sense of journey and calm.
Positioned near gate waiting areas, the booths invite travelers to engage more deeply. A large interactive timeline allows users to explore Indigenous stories, histories, and contemporary initiatives. Each booth connects digital storytelling and narratives to Indigenous-owned brands and artists within the terminal.
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Landscape scenes created using World Machine and rendered in Unreal Engine 5
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Visualizations
Two modes of storytelling — passive and active.
Immersive Tunnels
Storytelling Booths
Located along moving walkways, the tunnels use projection and subtle ambient soundscapes to envelop travelers in scenes inspired by Vancouver’s landscapes. The projections respond to walking speed and ambient light levels, creating a rhythmic sense of journey and calm.
Positioned near gate waiting areas, the booths invite travelers to engage more deeply. A large interactive timeline allows users to explore Indigenous stories, histories, and contemporary initiatives. Each booth connects digital storytelling and narratives to Indigenous-owned brands and artists within the terminal.
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Landscape scenes created using World Machine and rendered in Unreal Engine 5
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Visualizations
Two modes of storytelling — passive and active.
Immersive Tunnels
Storytelling Booths
Located along moving walkways, the tunnels use projection and subtle ambient soundscapes to envelop travelers in scenes inspired by Vancouver’s landscapes. The projections respond to walking speed and ambient light levels, creating a rhythmic sense of journey and calm.
Positioned near gate waiting areas, the booths invite travelers to engage more deeply. A large interactive timeline allows users to explore Indigenous stories, histories, and contemporary initiatives. Each booth connects digital storytelling and narratives to Indigenous-owned brands and artists within the terminal.
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Landscape scenes created using World Machine and rendered in Unreal Engine 5
Modeled in Rhino 3D and rendered in Keyshot
Physical Models
The room model was constructed using foam to define architectural volume and lighting conditions, while the tunnel components were fabricated through 3D printing to test curvature, transparency, and projection response. Together, these models served as an early exploration of the concept.
Outcome & Takeaways
Trails at YVR reframes how airports can function as cultural interfaces, which are places of learning and connection. The project demonstrates how immersive storytelling can bridge commerce and culture, while offering Indigenous communities lasting visibility within a global travel hub.
Through this process, I learned to design for large-scale, high-traffic environments, where attention is fleeting but emotion endures, creating touchpoints that move with people rather than against them.
Working within the constraints of a functioning airport required designing interventions that enhance, rather than disrupt, existing circulation. The experience needed to seamlessly integrate into passenger flow.
The project challenged me to merge digital storytelling with tangible spatial design. By combining projection mapping, architectural form, and ambient sound, I explored how physical and digital layers can complement one another to create a cohesive environment.
I recognized how narrative and commerce can coexist meaningfully. By linking cultural storytelling to physical retail spaces, the experience encouraged travelers to passive observation into active participation that advances business and social goals.
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Concept Video
Let’s Get in Touch.
Email: lucacao@seas.upenn.edu
Mobile: +1 (412)-583-5970