Tellart hired us to create visions of the future of the UAE for the Dubai Expo 2020. Our idea was simple; design 4 worlds relating to key innovations happening today and hide them behind an interactive mirage. The 10m by 5m interactive wall can be used by up to 12 people simultaneously and was the closing exhibit of the UAE’s space. Initially pitched as a live-action VFX project with interactivity, it was ultimately impacted by covid and lockdown, changing everyone’s plans however we showed just how well under pressure we could creatively and technically pivot to a new approach.

We designed the future of UV farming, the future of medical science, the future of marine biology and the future of desert living. We collectively felt that while the three former scenes should be projecting technological and architectural innovations, desert living should remain traditional, showing that cultural traditions are timeless. The Mirage was programmed as an interactive distortion effect to the pre-rendered content behind, combining 6k narrative sequences with an element of personal play and control.

The result was an explorable surface that engaged people in uncovering really engaging animated future scenarios. The piece was used as the final exhibit within the space and people didn’t want to leave.