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Review of Virtual Worlds: Corals at the Grant Museum
A visitor uses the Virtual Worlds: Corals at the Grant Museum headset
The two-part Virtual Worlds installation at the Grant Museum.
The Virtual Worlds installation at the Grant Museum.
The UCL Grant Museum of Zoology has recently been taken over by two phenomenal virtual reality experiences, entitled Virtual Worlds: Corals at the Grant Museum.
UCL experts on marine biology Ben Williams and Jason Lynch have teamed up with Datascape Realities to create an immersive underwater guided journey through the Pacific Ocean. This exciting and informative exhibit fills the museum space, using its 100,000 zoological specimens as its canvas, transporting the viewer to unfamiliar territory in the safety of UCL’s learning environment.
A recent renovation to the space has seen the museum spring back to life with conservation, collaboration, and outreach at the heart of its mission, providing educational resources for our university, local schools, and further afield.
The researchers, designers, and curators have employed the museum as a platform upon which critical conversation and action on the climate crisis may take place. In illustrating, nay, bringing to life, the often-unseen corners of our planet, the museum educates visitors about marine ecosystems and the impact of our actions.
Drawing these ideas to the surface has the potential to change views about climate change, as this resource can help to shape our beliefs about and responses to the way we care for our planet. The VR experience, while predominantly a visual journey, is also narrated, offering specialist scientific insights about the coral, its inhabitants, and their response to the ocean, alongside much more species-specific information.
The two VR experiences are quite distinct from another; in the first instance, one model requires the visitor to sit in a chair as they are washed away on an organised tour of the reef. Gradually drifting over and through the site, the viewer encounters the shape of the ocean’s surface from all angles. Great schools of brightly coloured fish come together throughout the slow-motion expedition, mesmerising and full of life. This authentic depiction of the reef steals your attention, while the narrator calmly explains the ecosystems in accessible and engaging language.
The second VR requires the participant to stand and offers a 360-degree view of the reef, controlled by the viewer. This was exhilarating; giant fish would swim overhead and looking downwards you would suddenly get a real sense of depth. This was accompanied by various shorter excerpts to read beyond the experience.
Some standout curatorial choices made by the artists included their ability to integrate the structure of the museum into the VR experiences; the vitrines, walls and spaces between objects, were all captured in the layout of the reef – this kept the viewer orientated. The museum also exhibits an extensive collection of coral specimens alongside the VR experiences.
Equally notable was the accessibility of the experience; the on-site team provided wide ranging information about the logistical facets of the experience, along with intricate details linked to the VR theme. The equipment was user-friendly, the language was inclusive and relevant, and the experience maintained the flow of the space.
The success of the work was in bringing usually inaccessible spaces of our shared planet into view. The artists have made memorable and tangible the experience of going beneath the ocean’s surface, something most viewers will never have the opportunity to do; it is possible too that this visit will spur on mindful decisions in future, as we consider our role in shaping climate change.
The VR experience also recontextualises the terminology used in esoteric discourse about climate change and ecosystems and helps the viewer to make meaning and obtain critical new knowledge. The VR installations go beyond information sharing, creating visceral experiences, sparking an emotional reaction to the scale of environmental impact.
The museum has step-free access, and a friendly and knowledgeable on-site team to assist with your visit.
Kristy Campbell, IOE PhD student
Plan your visit
Virtual Worlds: Corals at the Grant Museum
3 September 2024 – 4 January 2025
- Free, no booking required
- The Museum is open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-5pm.
- Recommended minimum age of 6+ but open to all. Younger children may need assistance from an adult.
More about coral research at UCL
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