Part of the cultural fabric of London, the Natural History Museum first opened its doors in 1881. I have fond memories of my parents taking me there when I was young, and then of my children there a few years ago.

Approaching 150^th anniversary, if an institution must understand the need to evolve, it is this one: it is therefore not surprising that for its latest experiment, called Visions of natureit has adopted cutting-edge technology in the form of a mixed reality headset.

A three-way project between the Natural History Museum, Microsoft and the French augmented reality studio Saola, in Visions of natureGuests don a Microsoft Hololens 2 headset to see what life for creatures and the environment might look like in 100 years.

At the start of the experience, a large wild cat walks by and a large tree appears in the hallway in front of you. As you listen to the narration, you then move into a side room, where you can get up close and personal with various creatures: some that exist today and others that are imagined products of a future ecosystem.

For example, you see a whale floating next to it, the result of the mating of narwhals and belugas, two species that today would not normally be able to interact, but could do so in the future. future due to melting ice caps.

Even though such events are the consequence of human activities and are not ideal, the narrative does not intimidate the audience but rather focuses on the potential positive outcomes – the emergence of a new species.

What’s different about the experience is that compared to a more conventional approach such as a movie with 3D graphics, mixed reality brings a greater level of immersion and interactivity.

Here you are encouraged to approach and examine a cuttlefish, reach out to a Darwin frog and release a large crab trapped in plastic, then watch it run away. With all this, you can get up close and examine creatures in detail as you move around them.

That said, the technical limitations of the Hololens 2 have become apparent. Although the models were detailed, to me they were a bit dull and mostly green and white. However, even though I suffer from red/orange color blindness, towards the end some of the fish were floating displaying beautiful colors, so I don’t think it was me. Additionally, the Hololens 2’s narrow letterbox field of view reduced immersion if the headset wasn’t perfectly tilted, with augmented reality images temporarily disappearing.

However, once the adjustments were made, I still really enjoyed it and was impressed with what development company Saola achieved. As its chief producer Florent Gilard explains, the challenges were numerous, including synchronizing the animations with the lighting of the physical space and also synchronizing the multiple audio streams for individual visitors.

Towards the end of the experience, the wildcat reappears and you follow it out of the side room and into the hallway. It’s really cool to see these creatures at the same time as people walking around in the same space.

If you are planning to visit the Natural History Museum, Visions of nature actually enough to justify the cost of a £9.95 ticket.

As Kevin Wright, Commercial Projects Manager at the Natural History Museum, explained at the launch event, rather than simply harming visitors, the project aimed to empower and educate individuals to they take constructive steps towards sustainability and will inspire you to think more about the environment. concretely and positively.