On September 19, Kirnu, the Finnish Pavilion welcomed its 4 millionth guest, Ms. Liu Xin from Changsha City, Hunan Province. Ms. Liu is working as the deputy General Manager at a travel agency in Changsha. Today is the first time that she visits the Shanghai Expo with a tourist group.
Ms. Liu was invited to punch a commemorative silver coin of the Finland Pavilion with the help of a blacksmith from Finland. Mr. Xiao Yong, a professor from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), was invited to design the memorial coins and packing boxes for Finland Pavilion. Xiao once designed the medal for Beijing Olympics. The memorial coin incorporates the unique Kirnu on one side and the growth rings to show Finland’s innovation and harmony with nature on the other side.
Ms. Liu received congratulations from Ms. Annikka Alanko, Pavilion Director of the Finland Pavilion, and Mr. Cao Wencha, General Manager of East China, Nokia. She was also surprised to receive a World Expo-exclusive Nokia X6-00 from Nokia.
Mr. Cao Wencha congratulated Ms. Liu saying, “We are honored to present you with a World Expo-exclusive Nokia X6-00. The X6-00 is one of Nokia’s most popular devices and is a representative model of Nokia’s portfolio of music devices preloaded with Comes With Music and Ovi Maps. The World Expo-exclusive model is equipped with extra design elements including a special back cover and phone ornament featuring an image of Kirnu. It also comes with a World Expo-exclusive Golla phone case. I hope this phone helps you commemorate this event and helps to connect you with the world. ”
The number of visitors to the Finnish Pavilion has exceeded original expectations. By August 17, the total number of visitors had reached 3 million and just one month later, the total number exceeded the 4 million visitor mark. Ms. Alanko said, “Over the past several months, the number of visitors to Finnish Pavilion has increased by 1 million every month. At this rate, by next month we will celebrate when the total number of visitors surpasses the population of Finland! We are happy to see that visitors are interested in technology and environmental protection, which are the areas we intend to demonstrate.”
After a short ceremony, Ms. Liu went on a guided tour around the pavilion, including a tour of the VIP floor and sauna.
When being asked why she decided to come to Finland Pavilion, Ms. Liu said that her sister is currently studying her doctorate degree in Finland. She already knew that there are thousands of lakes and the famous brand Nokia. Actually the mobile phone she’s now using is also Nokia. Today she luckily became the 4 millionth visitor and she was very happy about that.
After the VIP guided tour, Ms. Liu said that she now realizes that Finland is very advanced when it comes to environmental protection and technology. She said that she understands how harmony can be generated by technology and environmental protection, which should be the future trend for a better city. Also, the daily used articles in the ordinary households shows that Finns treasure nature and environment a lot. Ms. Liu said that she will surely visit Finland and experience by herself in the future.
Nokia is a world-leading Finnish company and one of the three National Partners of Finland Pavilion. The company has contributed to the new technologies, design, sustainable practices and experiences being showcased in the Finnish Pavilion. Visitors are invited to share an exciting vision of how tomorrow’s technology will change our lives for the better and to experience key elements of Finnish culture.
Among the technologies on display at the pavilion is augmented reality, which is a technology that overlays virtual content on top of a user’s view of the real world. At Kirnu, Nokia’s N900 provides the key to the immersive experience; when its always-on camera is pointed at graphic markers inside the pavilion, an animated virtual guide springs to life on the screen. “Aino” the augmented reality avatar greets guests in the camera’s view and introduces each of the Finnish attractions ranging from Santa Claus in Lapland, to the Moomins and Dibidogs animations to skating at the Helsinki Icepark.
The Morph concept device, another exciting innovation from Nokia, is also on display at Kirnu. A virtual guide on the outer wall of Hall 2 will use the Morph concept mobile phone to demonstrate how people will live in the future. Under the joint research of Nokia and the University of Cambridge, Morph is an example of technology with sustainability in mind. It features a revolutionary self-cleaning shell and recharges using solar energy. It also demonstrates how future mobile devices can be flexible enough to transform into different shapes.
Inside Finland Pavilion, Nokia also provides an enhanced multimedia experience with a wall made entirely of 200 Nokia phones. The wall interacts with visitors by taking photographs of them. Visitors can then have fun by playing with their images on a multimedia wall.
