A new kind of zoo has opened up in Brisbane, Australia. Designed by Axiom Holographics, the Hologram Zoo uses augmented reality to let visitors get up close and personal with a wide range of animals, even ones that no longer walk the earth.
Axiom Holographics, formerly known as Euclideon Holographics, previously developed the technology on a much smaller scale to create holographic arcade games. The tech requires users to wear a set of glasses, much less cumbersome than the goggles or headsets typically associated with augmented reality. Each pair of glasses’ position is tracked, and a graphics processor generates a unique image corresponding to the location of each pair of glasses, and simultaneously projects every image on a screen. The glasses then filter out all the images that are not directed to the user wearing them, giving each visitor a unique experience tailored to their specific position.
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This technique delivered for arcade game applications, and has been scaled up tremendously to fill an entire zoo. The position tracking element means that visitors can walk around and view the exhibits from different perspectives while communicating freely with other zoo goers.
The zoo its self measures 16,000 square feet, and includes two 60-foot long tunnels with screens on each side. The tunnels rotate different experiences, from arctic adventures to African safaris, and even a trip back through time to enjoy prehistoric flora and fauna. A bridge section looks out over a floor-mounted screen, allowing visitors to feel as if they are journeying over a perilous cavern.
“Hologram entertainment centers are a fantastic way to be teleported to places that you could not normally visit, and you can experience things you would normally never see,” says Axiom CEO Bruce Dell. “For example, I do not think people really know just how big a whale is, but when they see a giant life-sized whale swim past them at hologram zoo, they all seem to pause in reverent silence because it is something that they would normally never get the opportunity to see in real life. Our first Hologram Zoo is a test site to perfect the technology, we will then be opening hologram entertainment centers all over the world.”
Dell states that Axiom has plans to bring the experience worldwide, including Japan, Europe, and Texas.
