A virtual reality journey about the origin of the Earth

The Natural History Museum in Paris offers the opportunity to travel across continents and oceans, discovering “extinct worlds” and dinosaurs, 3.5 billion years ago, thanks to an immersive 3D experience.

A journey into the worlds of fossils is what this realistic 3D show, called 'Vidden Worlds', offers. A journey spanning 3.5 billion years to explore the history of Earth and life.

“We arrive, put on the headphones, and while our brain imagines where we are, we sometimes have a little difficulty distinguishing between objects, but then it comes right away, and then we already have the impression that we are in nature.”“Explains a 13-year-old pupil.

In one second, visitors are zoomed out and find themselves transported into a time tunnel. They are guided by the explorer and her robot, Darwin. “We've seen pictures of the Earth exploding. It was Mars that collided with the Earth, and that's what created the Moon.”says a 10-year-old visitor.

What setting are we diving into? “In nature, under the seas, in caves, we are high in the mountains, among the plants! I think the settings are very well done, it's worth it. We really have the impression that we are at the age of the dinosaurs.”

We discover the beginnings of life in a very realistic desert and mineral environment. We travel to the Cambrian period, 522 million years ago. With an explosion of life forms and many marine worms. There are also plants and carbonaceous insect gigantism. Without forgetting the Jurassic period: – 180 million years old, with its archipelagos with shallow seas.

And you can see dinosaurs up close! “Yes, and you can even touch it, but it's in virtual reality. I liked it because it focused a lot on plants, on the fun of seeing animals in real life, and on learning.”An 8-year-old Parisian boy rejoices. It was funny to me, especially since there were a lot of T-rex and Velociraptor. “I loved the little carnivorous dinosaurs that hatched. They were so cute, I even petted one of them.”

Soon, we meet people from the island of Flores… “They were little Cro-Magnon men. They came to see us with their language, the gibberish, and it wasn't bad. They were very young, and they were trying to protect their camp, and they weren't used to seeing characters like us.” Interesting and amazing.”

Journey into virtual reality Worlds disappeared The exhibition will be on display until June 16 in the Geology and Mineralogy Gallery of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.