Virtual worlds come to Motat

Maritime archaeologist Sarah Kenderdine and the virtual dinosaur world. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Standing on Mars or walking among dinosaurs is now a virtual reality with the opening of an internationally acclaimed 3-D exhibition created with New Zealand talent.

The Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat) is showing an award-winning display from Australia called "The Virtual Room". It is an eight-sided enclosure that viewers walk around wearing 3-D glasses to see five worlds - the world of dinosaurs, Mars, the human brain, the ocean and the history and future of moving images - from different perspectives.

The exhibition is the first of its kind in the world and cost $3.3 million to make. It was created by an international team that included New Zealand maritime archeologist Sarah Kenderdine.

Ms Kenderdine described the virtual room as a 3-D, panoramic enclosure with a unique visual system that was "delight, excitement, novelty and magic".

It is one of two virtual rooms in the world - the other is based permanently at Museum Victoria's Melbourne museum.

She was delighted with the response to her creation. "When we were making the Virtual Room we knew that we had to meet the international benchmarks set by video games and films such as Jurassic Park. The great responses from our museum visitors show that we've achieved our goal."

Motat director Jeremy Hubbard said it was an exhibition unlike anything he had seen.

"For us to be the only destination in the country with such an internationally acclaimed exhibition is a coup for Motat."

Freemans Bay school student Lani Williams was one of the first people to experience the show and said it was exciting.

"You think things are coming out of the screen and you could catch them when you have the glasses on," the 10-year-old said.

The exhibition will be open to the public from this weekend until June next year.