Illuminarium Experiences in Atlanta | A ‘VR, without the glasses’ experience
Recently opened Illuminarium Experiences in Atlanta, its first venue worldwide. It opened July 1st on Atlanta’s BeltLine with WILD: a safari experience, immersing guests in the splendour of Africa’s most exotic animals. This new tech-driven entertainment experience enables visitors to see, hear, feel, smell and affect experiences they only dream about through state-of-the-art technologies. Following Atlanta, Illuminarium will open in Las Vegas at AREA 15 in January 2022 and in Miami, at Mana in the Wynwood Arts District, in fall 2022. Other North American locations under consideration are New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles and Austin, with plans to create a global footprint in the world’s leading international destinations.
It made us think of experiencing the art of Vincent van Gogh at the L’Atelier des Lumières in Paris or the art at the NXT Museum in Amsterdam. But then it would be more like immersing yourself in experiences like the Safari or their next experience the ‘SPACEWALK’. A new way of visiting exciting places or would you prefer to immerse yourself in their nightlife experience?
Reading time: 3 minutes
Illuminarium Experiences | A new way of visiting exciting places?
The Illuminarium Experiences, a breakthrough global experiential entertainment company created by worldwide leaders in cinematic and interactive content, architectural and theatrical design, and venue operations, opens its first Illuminarium in Atlanta, Georgia, with its debut spectacle, WILD: A Safari Experience. The immersive 26,000 square-foot entertainment complex on the Atlanta BeltLine will showcase the beauty and splendour of Africa’s most exotic animals in their natural habitats. It will also offer a first-of-its-kind nightlife experience at The Bar at Illuminarium and all-day dining at The Illuminarium Café.
Through a convergence of cutting-edge technologies from the most impressive brands in the industry, Illuminarium’s immersive venues will transport millions of visitors to places that they previously could only dream of experiencing. By enabling audiences to see, hear, feel, smell and even personally affect an experience, Illuminarium places the guest “inside” the narrative using techniques from traditional motion picture production and virtual reality combined with interactive features that facilitate the experience of the real world. In essence, Illuminarium exemplifies a “VR, without the glasses” experience.
What will guests experience at WILD? And which experience will follow?
WILD transports visitors to Africa through cinematic content shot by RadicalMedia on location across South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania, showcasing the majestic animals in their native habitats. Complementing the exotic sights of a safari, visitors will also be immersed in its authentic sounds and scents, all without leaving Atlanta’s BeltLine. WILD will be followed by SPACEWALK, a mind-blowing journey through our Solar System where audiences will experience what it’s like to walk on the surface of the Moon and Mars.
“Illuminariums are massive immersive theatres that allow our guests to interact with many of the most coveted places and experiences on Earth, and beyond, through an unprecedented convergence of state-of-the-art technology,” Alan Greenberg, CEO, Illuminarium Experiences. “In WILD, visitors will walk through the theatre and feel an elephant walking on-screen in front of them, while Spacewalk will enable them to leave footprints on the surface of the moon. In this light, Illuminarium exemplifies ‘VR, without the glasses’ next generation entertainment that is ideally suited for the post-pandemic world of a return to communal experiences.”
Nightlife and hospitality experience
After dark, Illuminarium becomes an immersive nightlife and hospitality experience designed and developed by the LAB at Rockwell Group. At The Bar at Illuminarium, guests can enjoy cocktails and curated eats while surrounded in seven stunning, lush digital settings, from a city street in Tokyo to fantastical dreamscapes, that are ever changing. Through proprietary, state-of-the-art projection and audio systems, the experience offers cinematic, real-time visuals that may never appear the same way twice.
Also opened on July 1 is The Illuminarium Café, a full-service restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, and open to the public seven days a week from 9am-11pm. The restaurant, offering both indoor seating and an outdoor patio facing the BeltLine, will serve authentic dishes from the African continent and a selection of salads, flatbreads, rice bowls, paninis, and burgers. Reservations for The Bar and Café are available on Open Table. Tickets for WILD: A Safari Experience are on sale now at their website.