The shape of things to come
How to commemorate a future that hasn’t happened yet? Museum of the Future, which opened in February in Dubai, attempts it with new discoveries from the present, and the UAE’S own ambitions. In this vision of the tomorrow, prepare to be tracked. Tickets are sold under time slots. Visitors must register when they book, register again when they enter, and check in yet again with an assigned smart bracelet. Prepare to ascend too. All journeys begin in a wide elevator that rides to the top of the 77-metre-high cavernous, column-less, doughnut-shaped museum building.
Visitors are travelling to the year 2071. The elevator’s walls and ceiling are fitted with video screens that simulate a ride into space. “Your task is to discover and explore and return with ideas to help the present,” says Aya, the museum’s virtual guide. Earth falls away, the sky gets dark, and we dock aboard the OSS Hope, an interactive exhibition that represents how humanity might survive on an orbital space station.
A level below, at the Library of Life, DNA records of 2,400 species are presented as 3D crystal etchings, a kind of magical, colourchanging reminder of Earth’s biodiversity.
A welcome addition to any future is Al Waha (The Oasis), sensory exhibits that help visitors connect with their mental well-being. Tech tracks visitors here too, but only to create calming virtual waves on the soft floors.
Dubai’s vision of the future has none of the anxieties of the present. There are no food shortages, migrant crises, pandemics, Arab Springs or misinformation campaigns. The museum isn’t showcasing the future so much as the future of museum exhibits.
Tickets sell out fast. If you can, make time for the guest lectures by global experts. The exhibits are but empty thrills. This is where you could find out what the future will be like.