New Worlds
Illuminarium will create ‘cinematic immersion’ on the BeltLine this summer By Collin Kelley Want to get up close with elephants, lions and giraffes on an African safari? How about taking a walk on the moon? Or maybe sip a cocktail inside a Rousseau painting? All of that will possible this July when Illuminarium Experiences opens on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail. Using the most advanced projection, sound, and augmented reality technology for a “cinematic immersion” into different worlds, the 30,000 square foot attraction will be located inside Poncey-Highland’s Common Ground development, also home to New Realm Brewing and TWO urban licks, and just a short walk to Ponce City Market. CEO Alan Greenberg – the former publisher of Esquire magazine and founder of Avenues: The World School, among other global endeavors – feels like he’s got a tiger by the tail with what will soon be an international entertainment company. More Illiuminariums are coming to Las Vegas, Miami, and Asia soon, but Greenberg said Atlanta was the perfect place to launch and be the company’s world headquarters. “We originally planned to open in New York City, but I love the vibe of Atlanta, so we decided to open ‘off-Broadway,’” Greenberg said. “We looked around the Georgia Aquarium for a space, but nothing was big enough. When we saw this space at Common Ground, we knew it was the perfect place to start.”
That “perfect place” contains 30,000 square feet of space and soaring 22foot ceilings. The main “spectacle” – as Greenberg calls it – will be projected inside an 8,000 square foot room where visitors are completely surrounded by a massive 360×360 canvas projecting images so clear you might be inclined to step back as a lion jumps from its rocky perch. As a herd of elephants approaches, you’ll feel them coming thanks to haptics in the floor. When you’re strolling across the surface of the moon, be sure to look down: your
feet will be leaving tracks and kicking up clouds of dust. Sounds and even scents will also take visitors deeper into the experience. Greenberg said he was inspired by the Atelier des Lumières in Paris and Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Room” installations, and even the original immersive experience, Atlanta’s own Cyclorama. When Illuminarium opens this summer, the premiere spectacle will be “Wild: A Safari Experience” created by partner Radical Media during three trips
to Africa. The films were shot in 8K, so the resolution is startling in its clarity. Take a selfie for Instagram and it will look like you’re on a grassy savanna in Kenya as a murmuration of bats swoops and dives among the acacia trees. Kids are sure to be thrilled and awed by the experience, and Greenberg said there will be special field trip opportunities for kindergartners through high schoolers. Early next year, “Spacewalk” will zoom guests out into our solar system and beyond to see the comets of the Kuiper belt, the celestial wonder of stellar Nebula,
An African safari, walking on the moon, and swimming with jellyfish are some of the immersive experiences coming to the under construction Illuminarium. (Photos by Collin Kelley)
40 May 2021 |
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