This experience is for anyone who ever read a natural history book on the strange history of the Earth and longed to walk inside the pages. Leading VR innovator Excurio's virtual reality immersive "Life Chronicles" at Eclipso in Midtown West is an enchanting journey through billions of years of life on our planet. You'll travel forward and backward in time to see evolution in action, picking up scientific insight on top of the first-person thrill of virtual reality.
Excurio's VR tech platform shows off its sophistication from the start as guests are custom fitted with a free-roaming VR headset. The first impression you have is of infinity. The system shows off a little here, opening with scenes that stretch into impossible horizons, something you could never see in the ordinary world. Outlines on the floor make it easy to navigate the space, even as you'll have to overcome your instinct not to step on virtual rocks, or duck under virtual branches. Other guests in the room are rendered as ghostly sculptural forms, so you won't accidentally wander into them. The virtual reality feed has been carefully calibrated, so no worries about the unsteady feeling lesser VR systems can leave you with.
Life Chronicles takes advantage of the freedom of VR, taking huge leaps across time and variances in size, scale, and motion. You'll visit the future, the distant past, and the near-present. I especially enjoyed my time on the cliff faces, looking out on stunning views populated by ancient wildlife. (Going under water is a major highlight as well.) There's a narrative here and it can get suspenseful, but the real excitement comes from being immersed in the scenes. Outside of crossing paths with a T. Rex family, the virtual risks are mild (entry is limited to guests ages 8 and up).
There's plenty to learn. Produced by Excurio, the experience was developed in cooperation with France’s Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle and more than 30 experts were involved in confirming every detail. Paleontologists, paleobotanists, specialists in evolution, and even bioacousticians were consulted. It's amazing to watch the planet populate in real time, as 3.5 billion years of evolution get covered. You'll discover the first traces of life in the Archean era (-3.5 billion years ago), the emergence of diverse animal species in the Cambrian period (-520 million years ago), the great dinosaurs of the Cretaceous era (-67 million years ago), and the appearance of humans (between -100,000 and -60,000 years ago).
WHY EXCURIO'S LIFE CHRONICLES AT ECLIPSO IS WORTH IT
- A unique experience, Life Chronicles is a mix of cinema, science, and an amusement park.
- Engrossing. It's a 45-minute experience but feels like even more as you totally escape on an immersive journey.
- You get to explore Earth at various scales, from feeling tiny to feeling huge
- You get to time travel
- The narrative has a through-line, adding suspense to the natural thrill of virtual reality
Life Chronicles is an epic experience, something like living inside of a science fiction movie. It's great for adults, although kids in particular may resonate with the messaging around species protection and climate change. If humanity can create a simulation this striking, there’s hope we can solve our most pressing issues as well.
Excurio's Life Chronicles launches on June 17th at virtual reality destination Eclipso NYC. Also on view are Horizon of Khufu: An Immersive VR Expedition to Ancient Egypt, which takes visitors on a journey through pyramids, hieroglyphs, forbidden corridors, and other elements of the reign of King Khufu (a.k.a. Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Cheops, who lived 2589–2566 BCE); and Tonight with the Impressionists, Paris 1874, utilizing cutting-edge technology, reconstructed rooms, and 3D views to guide encounters with the likes of Monet, Renoir, and Degas.
ECLIPSO VENUE INFORMATION
● ADDRESS: 555 W. 57th St., between 10th and 11th Aves., New York, NY 10019
● OPERATING HOURS: Tuesday-Friday 11am–8pm, Saturday 10am–9pm, Sunday 10am–8pm
● DURATION: 1 hour, including 15-minute onboarding/offboarding and 45 minutes of VR
● TICKET PRICE: Starts at $39 (discounts available for 4+ ticket bundles)
● MORE INFORMATION: excurio.com/en/life-chronicles
All images © Excurio MNHN.
