Image credit: Visions of Nature frog story © Trustees of the Natural History Museum London and SAOLA Studio
Visions of Nature, an exciting and thought-provoking immersive experience, will launch at the Natural History Museum in October, giving visitors a glimpse of the natural world in 2125.
About
Produced in collaboration with SAOLA Studio, who are experts in augmented reality, the experience will allow visitors to visualise the future via Microsoft’s mixed reality headsets. With focus upon different parts of the world, users will get an insight into the potential future of a diversity of locations including the Scottish Highlands and Sahel’s Great Green Wall.
This fascinating family-friendly exhibition sees creatures, which are interactive holographic animations, invite visitors into their world. There will be a selection of animals, of which examples are held at the museum, including a cuttlefish, Darwin’s frog and coconut crab.
From the creators of Visions of Nature
Dr Alex Burch, Director of Public Programmes at the Natural History Museum, explains: “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.
“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.”
Jeremy Frey, Co-founder and Director at SAOLA Studio, comments: “We are particularly proud to be working with the Natural History Museum on this new experience.
“Today, thanks to Microsoft HoloLens 2, we can propel visitors into the future, in all its mysterious, marvellous and disquieting aspects. Our creative team has brought life to realistic creatures that are just as precious and fascinating today as we are certain they will be tomorrow.
“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. 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.”
Melanie Nakagawa, Chief Sustainability Officer at Microsoft, adds: “For centuries, imagining the future has brought hope and inspiration. From space exploration to technologies like the personal computer, imagination has helped to make the seemingly impossible possible. 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.”
The exhibition opens on 24 October and tickets are now on sale.
Getting there
The Natural History Museum is a 36-minute walk from Hertford Street. It can also be reached by taking the Piccadilly line from Green Park to South Kensington.
Also in the area
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Science Museum
The Paradox Museum