Graduate in 30 minutes at Germany Pavilion

Highly personalised visitor journey leaves a distinct impression

With a name tag around your neck, you go through an orientation session in the company of fellow freshmen from all around the world.

This is Campus Germany in Expo 2020 Dubai’s Sustainability District, where you can expect the perfect balance of work and play through your brief academic career.

“An indoor navigation system can tell where you are and present the information accordingly,” said Andreas Horbelt, Chief Creative Officer of facts and fiction and the mastermind behind the highly personalised visitor journey at the Germany Pavilion.

The pavilion is nearly omniscient in that sense — screens greet visitors with their names as they amble past and subtitles on videos switch to the language of their choice once they are close. All you need is your handy badge to trigger that customised experience. Fun aside, the message becomes clearer when more than one is needed to overcome a challenge — humanity needs “to come together to find solutions”.

‘Now bring the Earth back on track!’ exclaims one table with a rolling ball at the centre. In the era of Anthropocene, there are certain planetary boundaries we must respect to keep our existence from being endangered. Together with other visitors, you are told your collective efforts can save the human race if you can keep the ball out of the ‘red zone’. Visitors shuffle around the table in glee and in earnest to protect the Earth.

At the end of it all, a moving graduation ceremony awaits, no matter how you fared in your lessons. In lieu of a black gown and a cap, this graduation involves a whole lot of swinging. “You showed you cared,” a sombre voice echoes from the wall-to-wall screens as visitors take their seats on suspended swings in the vast hall. Here, you are challenged to a final task: swing in sync to save the world in sync.