IMAGINE THIS! (2025)

INTRO

In October 2025, the Natural History Museum in Aarhus opened its first VR exhibition, IMAGINE THIS!, in collaboration with The Animation Workshop/VIA UC, SCI-VI and Phenomenal (Viborg).  

EXHIBITION

On October 10 2025 the exhibition opened, aimed at general visitors, including families and institutions with children aged 12+. As the visitors are required to wear a VR headset, a host is stationed at the entrance to guide visitors. 

At the opening, the exhibition consists of three co-located VR experiences:  

COSMOTORIUM – positions you in the solar system between the sun, the planets and asteroids where you can roam freely 

KASKELOT – meet the giants of the ocean and feel the tale of human relationship with nature 

AQUAMARINE – a wonderful undersea universe where shoals of Blue Ribboned Sweetlips glide calmly past you.  

In February 2026, the exhibition was extended, and COSMOTORIUM was replaced with a new VR experience:  

TRICERATOPS – stand face-to-face with a 9-meter-tall Triceratops dinosaur (with both skin and scales – or as skeleton) 

(All graphic materials related to the IMAGINE THIS! exhibition is developed by the Natural History Museum, Aarhus)

OBJECTIVE

IMAGINE THIS! provides the visitor with an introduction to the museum experience of the future. Through new technology, visitors can learn about nature and simultaneously fall under its spell. The transformative space creates a foundation for a sensorial experience, placing you at arm's reach with the parts of nature which is too often is out of reach.  

IMAGINE THIS! is the first test act in a strategic collaboration spanning from 2025-2028 between the Natural History Museum, Aarhus, The Animation Workshop/VIA UC, and the Sci-Vi Initiative.   

As a means to learn from the exhibition, follow-up research was conducted during the exhibition runtime, gathering data through observations, tablet-based survey and tactile dot-voting. Furthermore, a selected group of students from The Animation Workshop visited the exhibition and collaborated to investigate and expand the interactions and concepts of COSMOTORIUM and AQUAMARINE for educational purposes  and presented their findings to the research group. 

CREDITS

The Natural History Museum (Aarhus)

The Animation Workshop/VIA UC

Sci-Vi: Science Visualisation and Animation

Phenomenal (Viborg)