After a five-year hiatus, the Army Open House returned this year, bringing old hits and new thrills with it. Working closely with the Ministry of Defence, Pico conceptualised and developed the event’s layout and delivered fabrication services at several venues across the city – the main show was held at the F1 Pit building, with two road shows in Punggol and Jurong East.
This six-day military-themed event held static exhibitions, military hardware displays, dynamic military performances, interactive and adventure activities, land and sea military rides and even a carnival segment. With something for everyone across the ten zones, including a food and drink area called the Canteen Break, this much-missed open house event was enormously popular with the public.
One of the event zones was the NS50 Showcase – an exhibition charting the evolution of National Service in Singapore which celebrated the contributions of national servicemen through videos, interactive displays and augmented reality technology. Pico developed all content for this section, which included a historical showcase of the beginnings of national service and stories of ordinary Singaporeans who went beyond the call of duty, a ‘Rites of Passage’ zone where visitors could follow in the footsteps of the first national servicemen, and a ‘Defending and Safeguarding Singapore’ zone where the SAF and Home Team’s latest weapons and capabilities could be explored through augmented reality and multi-taction technology. Lastly, visitors were provided with an opportunity to pledge their support to NS by paying tribute to our NSmen on the social wall at the last zone of the showcase where our NSmen are recognised.
The visitor turnout for the entire event was estimated at about 250,000 people, with 33,000 visitors to the City site on the first day alone.
