Mantis Shrimp Interactive Animation for American Museum of Natural History

Susan Crawford

Illustration / Animation

Client: American Museum of Natural History

Art Directors: Helene Alonso, Brett Peterson

This project was created for the museum's new "Life at the Limits" exhibit.

The interactive animation demonstrated the hunting behavior and powerful .22 caliber punch of the mantis shrimp. It required a fully articulated mantis shrimp that would respond to the visitor's actions. The visitor's image would be projected into the scene where they could interact with the creatures.

Actions including causing the fire clams to swim away if the visitor came too close, barracuda leaving the scene and picking up clams to toss near the mantis shrimp's lair, resulting in the mantis shrimp rushing out, smashing the clams and retreating back to it's lair with it's food.