OSAKA, Japan — The innovative use of augmented reality technology in the Canada Pavilion at Expo 2025 has been recognized with a gold medal for best integration of technology in a pavilion among more than 150 international entries. Canada also snagged the silver medal for Best Large Pavilion in the Expolympic competition.
The key to the enormous success of the Canada Pavilion among throngs of visitors to this year’s Expo has been the use of augmented reality (AR) technology in the main exhibition hall to bring to life what at first appear to be blocks of ice.
The exterior design of the pavilion, jagged white shards sticking up into the sky, are meant to evoke ice floes colliding in the spring ice breakup, a time of regeneration. In keeping with that striking exterior design, the main public presentation inside the pavilion features what at first glance look like large blocks of ice. In the darkened space, the luminescent white ice floes shimmer and glow.
But the AR magic happens when visitors to the exhibit use the i-Pad-like tablets that are handed out to interact with the ice floes. The tablets are synched with elaborate AR imagery showing scenes of Canada’s landscape, people and urban architecture on the screens. Point your tablet at a large, shimmering block of ice, and suddenly, intricate 3-D scenes from across Canada appear.
“We are honoured that the Canada Pavilion has been recognized with the Gold Award for Best Technology Integration and the Silver Award for Large Pavilion at the World Expolympics,” said Laurie Peters, the Commissioner General of Canada’s pavilion. “These awards are a tribute to the creativity, innovation, and dedication of our entire team, and to the spirit of collaboration that has brought Canada to the world stage in Osaka. We are particularly proud of the golden recognition for technology integration, which reflects Canada’s world-class creativity and validates the resounding visitor response to the magical augmented reality journey across Canada.”
Samuel Laverdure, one of the AR architects who created the award-winning AR presentation, said months of hard work paid off. “We worked very hard on this project, and we are very happy and proud to have won the award, and I know this is going to be a project we will remember even when we are old.”
Laverdure said what made the Canada pavilion stand out for technology integration was its interactivity. “Since everyone walks around to look at Canada’s landscape with a tablet that captures the AR environment, it is an interactive and immersive experience for the visitors.”
Laverdure said seven people worked on the team in a year-long project to create the AR experience for the Canada pavilion.
The project, with its meticulous details and grand scale, was completed through many workshops and multiple development phases. The technical core involved both the production of 3D models for the AR content and the process of accurately mapping to position those models onto the actual ice structures in the pavilion.
Laverdure noted that the 3D models were sourced through a blend of internal team creation and the utilization of external assets. For instance, urban structures were generated by taking pictures from Google Earth and making them into 3D models, and human models were produced by scanning real people. In some cases, 3D models for special objects or complex details that were challenging to scan – such as the narwhal – were adapted from externally purchased assets.
Particularly striking is the symbolic urban landscape of Canada featured in the Expo’s AR experience. This scene was created as a fictional “symbolic Canadian city” by extracting and combining the landmarks of several major cities, including Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto.
Another notable feature of the Canada pavilion presentation is the near absence of text. While other pavilions use text to explain what they are showcasing, Canada’s AR experience relies completely on visual and audio elements. Laverdure said he thinks the absence of text encourages visitors to fully enjoy the moment and fosters a more immersive and interactive experience, requiring visitors to actively engage with the exhibit.
The Canada Pavilion’s Augmented Reality (AR) exhibit proved to be an enormous hit at the Osaka World Expo, which concludes on Oct. 13.
In addition to the Best Tech Award, Canada won another Expolympic award, the Silver Award for Best Large Pavilion. Hanako Kamiya, the project manager for the construction of the Canada Pavilion, said he was deeply honoured by the award. “The Canada pavilion is a beautiful building, but it was also a challenging project that couldn’t have been done without our amazing team, including the designers, the construction team, and the Global Affairs Canada staff.”
“I think the Canada Pavilion is the most photogenic among all the pavilions,” Kamiya concluded.
“The achievements Canada made at the Expo demonstrate how technology, culture, and design can come together to inspire a more resilient and vibrant future,” said Peters, the head of the Canadian team.
