Manitoba Museum exhibit offers augmented reality experience with orcas

The Manitoba Museum is using augmented reality to bring visitors below the waves.

The Manitoba Museum is launching a new exhibit that will provide visitors with an immersive experience into the world of orcas.

On Tuesday, the museum opened “Critical Distance”—an augmented reality (AR) experience that will teach Manitobans about a group of endangered orcas, known as the Southern Resident Killer Whales.

During this exhibit, visitors are transported to the Salish Sea through AR technology. Audiences follow Kiki, a nine-year-old orca, and her family as they face the challenges of noise pollution and declining salmon stock.

“What this experience does is allow audiences to experience echolocation, which is how the orcas hunt and feed,” said Adam May, one of the creators of the exhibit.

“Through a mixed reality experience, they see the orcas as they see each other, so through sound waves effectively. As the experience progresses, you see how human impact is affecting them and how they can lose each other in an ocean full of sound.”

The goal of the exhibit is to make a compelling case for ocean conservation, as there are only 73 Southern Resident Killer Whales left in the Salish Sea.

May explained the experience is a combination of the real world and animation.

“That’s a really unique thing that mixed reality can do; it can take us into worlds that we couldn’t otherwise get to as a human,” he said.

“And we can get closer to these species and understand why they’re so important for us to save.”

“Critical Distance” is on at the Manitoba Museum through the month of June from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, and will be open daily from 10am to 4pm throughout July and August. Those aged 10 and over are welcome.