By Sølve Jozeph Westli

Immersive experiences have transformed how we engage with museums, science centers, and attractions, but one of the most exciting trends today is environmental immersion—where digital storytelling and physical space merge to create profound encounters with nature. This movement integrates technology with sensory engagement, allowing visitors to enter unseen ecosystems and fostering empathy and a deeper understanding of the planet.

As an artist, designer, and creator of immersive installations, I have dedicated my career to exploring how technology and storytelling can bring distant, fragile, and often invisible environments closer to audiences.

Two of my key works, The Changing Ocean and The Unknown Land, exemplify this approach, offering museum visitors a visceral connection to the deep sea and extreme geological landscapes that few will ever witness firsthand.

In a recent blooloop article, Lou Pizante critiqued how some immersive experiences risk becoming “theme park rides” rather than meaningful engagements. While this is a valid concern, environmental immersion offers something deeper: an opportunity to bridge science, art, and human emotion to inspire real-world action.

One of the challenges in climate communication is making the abstract feel tangible. While scientific data is crucial, it often struggles to evoke the emotional response necessary for action.

Immersive experiences, on the other hand, have the unique ability to engage human senses and emotions, creating spaces that transport visitors beyond traditional exhibition spaces and into the heart of the natural world.

In The Changing Ocean, an installation at the Bergen Aquarium in Norway, visitors are surrounded by real-time oceanographic data, projections of marine life, human activity, and a constantly evolving underwater landscape.

A key element of this installation is its focus on sound pollution—a growing environmental issue that is invisible to the human eye. Using Dolby Atmos mixed surround sound, the installation presents an unparalleled auditory experience, demonstrating how human-made noise affects marine life and how sound travels differently underwater.

This installation is one of a kind, offering visitors a rare opportunity to understand the ocean through its soundscape rather than just its visuals.

The impact of The Changing Ocean has extended far beyond its physical location. A short reel from the installation went viral on Instagram, reaching more than 7 million views, showcasing the public’s fascination with immersive ocean storytelling. This viral response highlights the growing interest in environmental immersion and its potential to engage audiences on a massive scale.

Similarly, The Unknown Land, commissioned for the University Museum in Bergen, takes audiences into the deep-sea volcanic landscapes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The installation not only surrounds visitors with CGI and interactive projection mapping but also includes real deep-sea samples they can touch and feel.

This combination of digital immersion and tangible objects enhances the sensory depth of the experience, making the environment more convincing and emotionally impactful. As highlighted in a review from Tidsskriftet Museum, the integration of touch and interactivity helps visitors truly grasp the foreign nature of the deep sea, making it feel both distant and intimately real at the same time. 

Developed in collaboration with scientists from the Centre for Deep Sea Research at the University of Bergen, the installation uses CGI and interactive projection mapping to reconstruct an alien world miles beneath the ocean’s surface, where black smokers release mineral-rich plumes and strange life forms thrive in total darkness.

This project was developed using real expedition data to ensure accuracy while maintaining a sense of wonder and mystery.

Environmental immersion is not just about technology; it is about creating a relationship between the visitor and the environment. The most powerful immersive experiences go beyond visuals and sound—they manipulate space, temperature, and even air movement to create a full-body experience.

When done right, they don’t just show us a foreign world; they change how we feel within it.

One of the most exciting aspects of this approach is its potential for scientific outreach and education. UNESCO’s Ocean Literacy initiative, for example, aims to spread knowledge of marine ecosystems to communities with limited access to ocean education.

Environmental immersion provides a bridge—bringing the ocean to schools, libraries, and exhibition spaces in landlocked areas, fostering awareness where it’s needed most.

By using immersive installations to place people inside these fragile and remote spaces, we can foster a sense of responsibility and stewardship. When visitors feel like they have been to the depths of the ocean or walked on the floor of an extinct sea, they connect with these places on a personal level.

This emotional connection is often what sparks action—whether that means reducing plastic waste, supporting conservation policies, or simply sharing the story with others.

The role of immersive experiences is shifting from places of passive observation to dynamic spaces of transformation. The rapid advancements in projection mapping, interactive storytelling, and real-time data visualisation have made it possible to construct experiences that are deeply personal, emotionally resonant, and scientifically accurate.

These installations are not limited to museums—they hold tremendous potential for maritime and marine conferences, waterparks, amusement parks, aquariums, and other experience-based venues. The ability to transport visitors to otherwise unreachable worlds can enhance public understanding, provide entertainment, and even serve as a platform for industry discussions on ocean conservation and sustainability.

As we look toward the future of immersive exhibitions, we must ask: How can we continue to push the boundaries of sensory engagement? How do we ensure these experiences remain not just spectacles but catalysts for real-world change?

At Aurora Vortex Studio, these questions drive my work. Whether collaborating with researchers, designers, or institutions, my goal remains the same: to create spaces that transcend technology and connect directly with human experience.

Because in the end, true immersion is not about the tools we use—it’s about the emotions we evoke and the worlds we bring to life.