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Visions of nature

The Natural History Museum London and Microsoft are imagining what’s possible for the planet in 2125

Visions of Nature: A Mixed Reality Experience opens October 2024.

Welcome to the imagined year of 2125. The planet has changed and so have we. Temperature and ocean levels have risen globally, and the range of plants and animals has declined. But hope still lives. We’ve taken action to preserve and protect the Earth to live in harmony with it—and it’s paying off.    

Cities are “greening” their urban cores, creating safe havens for native plants and animals to thrive. Single-use plastics have been banned since 2050. And the African Sahel’s “Great Green Wall” is now the largest living structure on the planet, spanning a massive 247 million acres of lush, fertile grassland.  
  

This is the world of Visions of Nature: A Mixed Reality Experience, an immersive exhibit created in partnership between The Natural History Museum London (NHM), Microsoft, and SAOLA Studio, a creative studio specializing in building augmented-reality experiences for cultural institutions. This experience takes visitors on a journey 100 years into the future to investigate how various species and environments have evolved based on collective human actions—big and small.   

Igniting hope

Part of being a good advocate and steward of the earth is grappling with humans’ impact on it. And the NHM is no stranger to merging art and science to accurately portray the challenges facing our planet. Visions of Nature isn’t shy about signaling what we’ve spoiled, but its main focus is what we can save.    

In developing the experience, co-producer and creative director, SAOLA studios, worked in consultation with scientific experts and researchers at NHM to build eight ecosystems that showcase how human innovation and nature’s inherent adaptability can help us to survive and heal from the environmental crisis we’re facing.  

Despite the deceptively minimalistic sets inside the museum’s Darwin Centre— neutral-toned backdrops and a sampling of specimens on display—the experience comes alive through an interactive 3D digital overlay inside the Microsoft headset.    

Though these scenarios are rooted in real-word data and research, they’re still hypothetical. Creative tableaus steeped in science and imagination. But that doesn’t make them any less inspiring when you’re the one transported to the rainforests of Borneo or islands of Vanuatu.  

This innovative, mixed reality experience marks a step change in how we are embracing new ways to not only share the wonder of the world around us, but also empower the changes needed to protect it.
Dr Alex Burch
Director of Public Programs, Natural History Museum

Discover a better reality 

In the mixed reality world of 2125, each ecosystem tells a story of adaptation and reinvention. But there’s a common string threading them together: the power of collective action.   

The Great Green Wall   

Overfarming and extreme weather have nearly wiped out the lush grasslands blanketing Africa’s Sahel region. But in 2125, thanks to a UN-backed tree planting initiative, the area is once again abundant with flora and fauna. Stretching 247 million acres, this “Great Green Wall” is so vast it’s visible from space.    

This massive plant belt is rife with Acacia trees, which provide shade and shelter to animals like the Secretary bird. With its healthy habitat restored, these birds once threatened with extinction are flourishing in 2125. 

The rebirth of the frog   

After losing their rainforest home to deforestation, Darwin’s frogs are thriving in an unexpected place: an urban center. The city of Concepción, Chile has turned its largest park into a verdant oasis blooming with native trees and plants. This park is a welcome refuge for the frogs, where they’ve been released to live and breed in safety.  

Part of a captive breeding program set up by the Concepción Zoo, Darwin’s frogs are thriving in their urban shelter, showing that even bustling cities can help protect endangered species and support biodiversity. 

As Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” 

During this journey into the future, visitors see firsthand the Earth’s ability to adapt and change. The plants, fungi, and animals—humans included—populating this planet are radically capable of transformation. If we take action today, these ecosystems might be saved. And that, one hundred years from now, we can do more than survive. We can thrive. 

At a time when climate change and other global challenges can bring fears about the future, imagining what’s possible can give us the courage to keep going and to take the actions needed to create a more sustainable world.
Melanie Nakagawa
Chief Sustainability Officer, Microsoft

Copilot for climate optimists

For those inspired to live more sustainably or get involved with larger community initiatives, Microsoft Copilot can assist with turning hope into action.