Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! No, you’re not in “The Wizard of Oz,” this is just Dubai Mall’s latest adventure. All you have to do is pop on a virtual reality headset and make some fuzzy friends.
Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is trying to raise awareness about endangered animals using new technology. The VRZOO 360 experience puts you at the center of the action, using 360 videos from all over the world to bring the safari experience to you.
You’ll see gorillas in Uganda, elephants in the African savannah and whale sharks in the Maldives. If you aren’t familiar with 360 videos and virtual reality, this isn’t like a regular video. It is created so that it feels like the video is all around you – look to your left and you might see a tree, to your right, a hungry lion.
It sounds fun, but the interactive experience was created to showcase what we have to lose if we don’t work to preserve these endangered species. The Center for Biological Diversity writes on their website that “we’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.”
To push against that trend, the aquarium recently held a Shark Week Exhibit where visitors could go inside a digital “shark cage,” with LED screens showing sharks swimming around them. It was meant to highlight shark conservation and its importance.
To buy tickets, simply go to the Dubai Aquarium counters at Dubai Mall (it’s a giant aquarium in the middle of a mall, you can’t miss it), and you can add the VRZOO experience to any package you buy.
You can opt for the standard video, which costs AED30, or the slightly more expensive CGI, which will set you back AED50 but will also allow you to have more interaction within the experience.
