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Arival explores the appeal of immersive experiences for today’s travellers

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Meow Wolf Denver

What can we learn from best-in-class examples like Meow Wolf and ARTECHOUSE?

Arival, an information and insights provider for the in-destination experiences industry, has provided some insights into the rise of immersive art experiences, showing how this trend illustrates what the 21st-century traveller is looking for.

To help decode the appeal of these experiences, the firm spoke to Meow Wolf’s Vince Kadlubek and ARTECHOUSE’s Adrian Jones.

Immersive experiences use new innovations like AR and projection mapping to present elaborate environments that guests can freely explore. One key example is the award-winning House of Eternal Return from the alternative art collective turned elaborate multimedia experience designer Meow Wolf. Yet when co-founder Kalukek reflects on its launch, he says: “We were still unsure if what we were doing was going to work.”

meow wolf's house of eternal return
Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return. Image credit Kate Russell

In the end, by encouraging guests to step through a normal-looking refrigerator into a whole new world, the Meow World team stumbled upon something that resonated with audiences, some quest to discover the secret of the human experience. People travelled from far and wide to enter the washing machine portal in Meow Wolf’s fantastical world, not just for the Instagrammability of it all, but also to find themselves.

Why is the immersive experience booming, and what can operators learn from the success of Meow Wolf and other leading providers?

Arival sets out three top tips, revealed by the conversation with Vince Kadlubek and Adrian Jones.

Give people the freedom to explore and participate on their own terms

“Oftentimes experience designers over-operationalize, over-program, try to control the experience,” says Kadlubek. Rather than designing for an outcome where “everyone must have their magical moment,” Meow Wolf “want[s] people to have the experience they choose to have.”

Jones, SVP of location operations agrees: “Passive storytelling is something that was a 20th-century revolution. In the 21st century, there is an expectation for more interactive, immersive, and participatory storytelling that inspires and engages audiences in a far more personal way.”

ARTECHOUSE says it is on a mission to “redefine audience participation” by infusing immersive storytelling experiences with “technology-driven art.”

Artechouse
Visitors can take time to pause and reflect in ARTECHOUSE’s exhibit “Celestial.” Image credit ARTECHOUSE

Give space for all emotions, not just happiness

Some have called Meow Wolf the “Disney of Immersive Experiences,” which Kadlubek says on the one hand is “quite the honor.” However:

“Meow Wolf is not the ‘happiest place on earth,” says Kadlubek. “We honor all emotions that people feel. We honor spirituality, challenging one’s own identity. It’s not just about spaces for happiness.”

This point is reinforced by the popularity of immersive experiences during the last few years, despite the pandemic, which of course was not a happy time for many. Experiences that allow for those uncomfortable yet unavoidable emotions that we all feel offer something more authentic.

For instance, ARTECHOUSE’s exhibits feature “Classic Blue,” Pantone’s colour of the year for 2020. Furthermore, guests also have chances to see through windows into the other spaces, “fostering a sense of connection” explains ARTECHOUSE, “and countering the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Invite and inspire people to experience transformation

“We are not who we have been, we are who we are becoming,” says Vince Kadlubek. 21st-century travellers seek transformative experiences, and Kadlubek believes immersive attractions can play a part in this: “Immersive art can pull people into the unknown and make them question who they are,” he adds.

attraction trends 2022
Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, Las Vegas

He feels that transformation is about moving from the past to the future:

“Art comes from the realm of possibility,” We often get stuck in the past, but “after experiencing an entire environment of possibility, [guests] look at themselves as a blank canvas, a work of art.” Experiences like Meow Wolf’s “allow us to step into a future-based self” where “we are not who we have been, we are who we are becoming.”

Jones points out that technology has a role to play as well:

“As we move into a more technology-driven world with a technology-savvy audience, we are reminded that people still need places to reflect, meet and have fun together,” says Jones. “We hear talk of the metaverse, robotics and automated travel, but people will still find time to get together and reflect in a profound space.”

Earlier this year, ahead of the company’s annual Arival 360 event in Las Vegas, we spoke to co-founder and CEO Douglas Quinby, to gain some insights into what the attractions industry looks like right now, and where he sees it heading in the future.

Top image: Visitors are invited to choose their own way of exploring Meow Wolf’s Denver experience, Convergence Station. Image credit Meow Wolf / Jess Bernstein

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charlotte coates

Charlotte Coates

Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.

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