PITTSBURGH-BASED DEEPLOCAL BRINGS AN IMMERSIVE SPA FOR THE SENSES TO LIFE IN DUBAI’S HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE.
Deeplocal brings advertising industry credentials and creative technology expertise to a new portfolio of permanent exhibits and environments.
Pittsburgh, PA (March 9, 2022)—Award-winning creative technology company Deeplocal served as technology, experience, and tangible design partner to create exhibitions for AL WAHA (“The Oasis”), the Museum of the Future’s immersive space for wellness, spirituality, and the senses.
Spearheaded by the Dubai Future Foundation, the Museum of the Future invites guests to look beyond the present to the possible, showcasing future scenarios through immersive exhibitions and theatrical elements. With roots in the advertising industry, Deeplocal’s role in creating the Museum of the Future’s AL WAHA reflects a novel approach to exhibition design and space making, blurring the lines once delineated by attraction design and architecture firms.
“Deeplocal has a long history of inventing interactive experiences that tell stories and connect people,” says Nathan Martin, founder and CEO of Deeplocal. “To be a part of a project that’s using art and technology to create a shared future narrative for visitors from around the world is exciting for us. Our creative engineers and experience designers have demonstrated incredible versatility over the years—ranging from building out multi-level interactive experiences in a matter of weeks for events like CES to creating robust, permanent installations for retail flagships and branded environments. The Museum of the Future brings all of this experience into play. We’re using design, tangibility, and interactivity to tell the ultimate story: what will the world be like in 50 years?”
AL WAHA uses physical experiences, or treatments, to remind Museum guests of the power of their bodies in an increasingly sedentary and digital future. Largely void of digital screens, the space integrates technology into physical forms and uses iconography and inscribed text to guide guests. Deeplocal’s contributions to AL WAHA include:
MOVEMENT THERAPY
Inspired by local desert oases, the AL WAHA Bath features fluid, interactive visuals and a multi-channel soundscape that create the feeling of walking through a mystical body of water. Integrated with a motion tracking system, the generative visual projections and soundscape change character in response to guests’ movements. Through subtle interaction as they walk, guests co-create and discover the landscape in this future world. Floor to ceiling mirrors and environmental lighting heighten the impact of the AL WAHA Bath.
FEELING THERAPY
Guests absorb restorative energy through their hands to rebalance their bodies and brain from the rigors of digital life. First, an aromatic vapor cleanses and draws guests’ attention to their hands. Each guest then enters an individual, dimly-lit booth where they resensitize their hands through a combination of ultrasonic haptic technology, light therapy, and binaural audio.
CONNECTION THERAPY
This treatment relieves feelings of loneliness and alienation by channeling the healing properties of our collective voice. An oval-shaped console surrounds a levitating meteoroid, the visual focal point of the interaction. Guests are invited to sit around the console and “hum to achieve harmony.” Dynamic light projections extend from each guest toward the center, indicating that the voices are approaching harmony and energizing the meteoroid, eventually resulting in a shower of otherworldly light, scent, and sound.
In addition to AL WAHA, exhibitions at the Museum of the Future showcase transformative, near-future technologies and address themes of space travel and living, climate change, and endangered ecosystems. A dedicated level for children offers an exploratory landscape.
Deeplocal worked with Museum of the Future under curator Brendan McGetrick, joining a team of world-class firms led by Atelier Brückner that were selected to bring the Museum’s future vision to life. Credits for AL WAHA Therapies include: Environmental and Spatial Design by Atelier Brückner GmBH; Original Concept and Creative Direction by Emilie Baltz; Tangible Design and Technology by Deeplocal; Experience Design by Emilie Baltz, Deeplocal, Polytope Agency, Clear Story; Audio Scenography by Polytope Agency; Generative Visuals by Alex Guevara; Scent Design by Scentronix; Photos by Atelier Brückner / Giovanni Emilio Galanello.
ABOUT DEEPLOCAL
Deeplocal is an award-winning creative technology and experience design company based in Pittsburgh, PA. A spin-off of Carnegie Mellon University with expertise in engineering, design, and creative strategy, Deeplocal invents interactive experiences that tell human stories, helping global brands connect with audiences in new and unexpected ways. Deeplocal’s work bridges the physical and digital worlds and has been featured in Fast Company, Wired, The New York Times, USA Today, Good Morning America, and more. https://www.deeplocal.com/
###