Ranked the #1 Natural History Museum in the world, the stakes were high to deliver a virtual world that reflected the impressive architecture and exhibits. Featuring 80 million specimens, from the tiniest insects to minerals as old as the solar system and the remains of extinct fauna, there was no shortage of material to showcase.
The actual museum comprises the main exhibit halls, plus the left and right wings with the vast majority of exhibit annexes. Since the virtual world of the museum was quite large, we wanted to entice users to explore the area. One of the strategies we used was to display cinematic shots throughout the museum that would automatically pan and shift using various film techniques.
Entering the museum yields the impressive main hall with a Blue Whale skeleton on display at the top, immediately recognizable from the real-life version. While it looks awe-inspiring in the virtual experience, we have to give the bulk of the credit to the London Museum’s curators and architects.
Due to the vast array of exhibit types, we needed to develop a system to showcase all of them with the appropriate ease of use and flexibility while also maintaining costs and deadlines. We created a proprietary POI (point-of-interest) system that lets the user view, zoom, and view additional info for each piece with different camera angles.
The exhibits weren’t limited to Natural History collections; we decided to showcase much more. We wanted the museum to serve as a demo way of demonstrating the possibilities that virtual museums can encompass–showcasing everything from human evolution to ancient history, natural history, an actual aquarium with living species, and even NFTs. Try it out at https://interactiverse.app/museum
