Pictured from left to right are Thom Benson, Tennessee Aquarium Communications Manager; Julie Taylor, Erlanger Health System Chief Development Officer; Cindy Rhodes, Children’s Hospital at Erlanger Chief Nursing Officer; and Dr. Alan Kohrt, Children’s Hospital at Erlanger Chief Executive Officer
Thanks to the collaboration between the Tennessee Aquarium and The Sky Factory, patients, family members and guests of Children’s Hospital at Erlanger now have the unique opportunity to view an underwater experience through digital cinema. The partnership is the first in Tennessee and among many health care facilities around the world to offer guests the experience of viewing nature through a virtual window.
The window at Children’s Hospital features three unedited scenes filmed at the Tennessee Aquarium. The aquarium’s largest exhibit, the Secret Reef, features Green Turtles, sharks, and colorful saltwater fish. The Reelfoot Lake exhibit is home to crappie, sunfish, Map Turtles and sturgeons.
The aquarium’s Flooded Amazon River exhibit displays peacock bass, giant South American river turtles, tambaqui and catfish.
“We are extremely grateful for the support of the Tennessee Aquarium and The Sky Factory for allowing our patients and guests to benefit from not only a visual experience but also an educational experience by taking our patients and guests to various underwater worlds,” said Cindy Rhodes, Chief Nursing Officer at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. “Providing a natural diversion will certainly have an impact on the child’s and parents’ hospital experience.”
The use of UltraHD RED Digital cinematography reproduces the relaxing, therapeutic benefits that are universally experienced when viewing living underwater environments. Research has established that viewing such environments restores emotional balance, reduces anxiety and even lowers blood pressure. Designed as a portal into large underwater environments, the virtual window presents the gentle flowing motions inherent in all marine life. It is this motion that triggers an automatic 'relaxation response' in the observer.
“We could not have received such high quality cinematography without the support of the Tennessee Aquarium,” said Jeff Johnson, The Sky Factory’s design specialist. “Chattanooga’s aquarium provided us with three gorgeous and diverse subjects, and what better place to debut them than in the region’s only Children's Hospital.”