The Natural History Museum in London is set to open a new mixed reality (MR) experience that allows guests to see how the planet looks in the year 2125.
Launching on 24 October, ‘Visions of Nature‘ takes visitors 100 years into the future to experience how the natural world has been impacted by today’s actions.
Guests will wear state-of-the-art Microsoft MR headsets for the immersive exhibit, which is designed to inspire visitors to become advocates for the planet.
Alex Burch, director of public programmes at the Natural History Museum, said: “Visions of Nature is an incredibly exciting, immersive experience – and the first offering of its kind for the museum. Whilst visually beautiful, it also delivers a powerful message that the actions we take now can have a positive impact on the future.
“It presses fast-forward so visitors can see how nature has responded, for better and for worse, to the aftermath of centuries of human industrial activity as well as to the interventions we have introduced to remedy our unsustainable activity.”
Burch added: “We hope that visitors to Visions of Nature leave with a greater confidence to discuss the type of future they’d like to build and are driven to be part of the response to the planetary emergency.”
Co-produced by Saola Studio, which specialises in building augmented reality (AR) experiences for cultural institutions, Visions of Nature includes holographic animations of different species, including a cuttlefish, Darwin’s frog and coconut crab. Descriptions are provided by a built-in scientific copilot called Hope.
Jeremy Frey, co-founder and director at Saola Studio, said: “This is not just a time travel; it is an immersive experience in which the visitor is challenged to become a part of a better world where balanced human-animal cohabitation is possible.”
Immersive exhibit opens in October
He added: “We have a long way to go. Though we are not yet prepared to meet the challenge, we hope Visions of Nature helps us to take the right turn starting today.”
The new exhibit is part of the museum’s advocacy programme, named ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’. This works to encourage guests to reflect on their impact on the environment, and to empower them to protect it.
Melanie Nakagawa, chief sustainability officer at Microsoft, said: “At a time when climate change and other global challenges can bring fears about the future, imagining what’s possible can give us the courage to keep going and to take the actions needed to create a more sustainable world.”
Images courtesy of the Natural History Museum and Saola Studio
