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Interactive audioguide redefining visitor's experience.
The Circular is a compact, location-aware audioguide developed for the German Pavilion at World Expo 2025 in Osaka. It’s more than a player: it reacts to its surroundings with synchronized sound, light, and gentle vibrations. We designed and built the entire system, transforming an ambitious concept into a robust solution deployed at scale under tight timelines. In just six weeks, the first functional prototype was ready, and shortly after we scaled from rapid prototyping to 3,000 units in only a few iterations.
The Circular integrates custom sensors to react to visitors: activating when they approach, guiding them through spaces, or signalling when they leave. Every interaction is simple and intuitive, no buttons, no learning curve, just an immersive journey. To make the Circular reliable for six months of continuous use, we also created its ecosystem: charging and maintenance stations, on-site support tools, update access for the client, and cleaning workflows. The full industrialization process, from design to validation and field deployment, was handled by our team.
Close collaboration was key. We worked hand in hand with the client, adapting to evolving needs, proposing fallback solutions, and balancing timelines with quality requirements. We also provided tools so the client could manage content and updates independently, ensuring long-term autonomy.
The Circular has been praised for making complex technology feel invisible: visitors only experience fluid, immersive storytelling, powered by a carefully engineered system. From 13 April to 13 October 2025, Osaka hosts the World Expo under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” The German Pavilion is organised and run by Koelnmesse GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Its concept and realisation are led by the German Pavilion Expo 2025 Osaka Consortium, formed by facts and fiction (Cologne) and GL Events Live (Lyon) with support from their Japanese office. Photos © German Expo Pavilion / Hotaka Matsumura & © German Pavilion / Alexandre Olivieri (Takography).
