Enter into the wildnerness at the ArtScience Museum, where you’ll stroll past waterfalls and interact with creatures in their natural habitats. All this happens in a virtual world, of course. The museum’s newest permanent development, Into the Wild: An Immersive Virtual Adventure, allows you to explore over 1,000 sqm of its public spaces, which will transform into rainforest landscapes through interactive technology.
Put into simpler terms — you’re basically walking around the museum’s basement while looking at a virtual rainforest through Lenovo’s Phab 2 Pro. Start off by signing in with your name and following the grassy path. As you trek, the scenery on the gadget’s screen changes, and you’ll encounter animals such as pangolins, tapirs, mousedeers and tigers, and learn about the dangers they face in their environment.
The experience ends with a ravaging fire destroying the lush digital greenery — and at this point, if you’re not devastated by the thought of all the poor creatures affected by real-life deforestation in Southeast Asia, head up to the fourth floor, where you can start anew and plant a virtual tree. If you offer up a monetary pledge to WWF, an actual tree will be planted in Rimbang Baling (it’s one of the few remaining pristine rainforests in Sumatra).
The final part of the adventure takes you into a dark room, where you’ll watch a short film installation by Brian Gothong Tan. Created with projection mapping and animation techniques, the video takes you into the world of the rainforest creatures.
Into the Wild: An Immersive Virtual Adventure is at the ArtScience Museum from Feb 11.
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