What would entering a spacecraft and blasting off into another galaxy look like? If Dubai’s latest cutting-edge immersive experience AYA is anything to go by, it’s a trippy experience full of surreal landscapes. The brand-new venue by HyperSpace launched a few days ago is located in WAFI City Mall and bills itself as a digital entertainment park.
Does that mean it’s all online?
Not at all. AYA is very much a physical park and you can see and move through. The digital aspect refers to the state-of-the-art technology it uses to create out-of-this-world landscapes that feel like you’ve stepped inside someone’s dream. Or the fantastical world of a video game.
Here’s what you can see inside AYA
Divided into 12 zones which are themed around the story of an undiscovered ‘beautiful new universe’ in outer space, AYA aims to take visitors or “travellers” on an interdimensional journey . And this new attraction takes the label of being a ‘universe’ pretty darn seriously – it’s spread across a massive area of 40,000 square feet, which is vast enough to feel like a whole world in itself. Guests are even given a passport-like booklet to complete the illusion.
You can spend hours in here ogling endlessly at marvellous room after room. Each room is filled with unique interactive elements created using flashing lights, sounds, LED screens, motion detection sensors and hi-tech projections. Together, they imagine what plants, rivers, and creatures in a futuristic realm could look and feel like. So buckle up.
Enter surreal, imaginative landscapes
You’ll pass through Drift, a room where you can experience the illusion of being weightless and floating through space amongst the stars. Prepare to have your head spun when wandering through the gravity-defying zone The Falls. Here you will witness a waterfall that moves upside down in response to sound.
A bio-luminous garden called Flora with tall grass created from strands of LED lights that you can run your hands through and a central tree that looks like something straight out of Pandora in the Avatar.
Then there’s the chamber stacked with panels of infinite mirrors called The Tides. Both rooms selfie havens crammed with photo opportunities for your next fabulous DP.
Touch, feel and play with magical technology
In zones like Aurora and The River, motion detection sensors put you in control of creating kaleidoscopic bursts of colours on LED screens or leaving behind a trail of a storm as you walk past. There’s an interactive spatial game in Celestia.
The finishing touch is Harmonica, a dazzling robotic light show inside a mirrored zone that feels like your own private little disco.
In a city like Dubai, that’s home to futuristic museums and metaverse nightclubs, this entertaining new indoor attraction is a welcome addition. Perfect to hole up in during a rainy day or a scorching hot summer, you’ll leave feeling like either a magician or a space pioneer, with endless Instagram content.