Natural History Museum Rijeka Tourism

Holographic projection of a cave bear for the Natural History Museum Rijeka

A new permanent exhibition called Cave - in the darkness of the karst underground, has been opened in the Natural History Museum Rijeka. The museum is one of the partners in the KRASn’KRŠ project, Preservation and valorization of the natural and cultural heritage and development of sustainable tourism in the cross-boarder karst landscape. As part of the project activities of the work package T2 - Protection and promotion of karst heritage through interpretation centers and polygons, the museum set up the Interpretation Point Krš, which is now part of the new permanent exhibition.

The new exhibition completes the geological picture of the Rijeka area and allows visitors a complete experience of the underground karst forms. An attractive multimedia part of the exhibition is a holographic projection of the mother cave bear and her cub, which surprises vistors and takes them back in time with a help of sound and holographic projection. The cave bear is considered to be one of the first species for whose extinction man himself is responsible, and with this hologram, for a moment, we are virtually bringing him back to life.

Background

The newly opened permanent museum exhibition called Cave - in the darkness of the karst underground, was designed and planned as part of the entire geological exhibition in the museum. For the project requirements, it is necessary to present a rich biological collection of objects found in caves in the vicinity of the city of Rijeka in a modern way. One of these objects was the skull and numerous tooth and bone remains of a cave bear.

Challenge

It was necessary to study the well-preserved skull and numerous tooth and bone remains of a cave bear and to recreate the former life of this extinct species in the darkness of the karst area as realistically as possible. Given the capacity and shape of the building of the Natural History Museum Rijeka, the challenge was also to place the projection system so that the projection is well noticed and accepted by visitors.

Our approach

The cave bear was brought back to life using a holographic projection located in the center of the museum. The peculiarity of the hologram lies in the fact that it can accurately reproduce a three-dimensional copy of the original object, which includes all the characteristics of the actual object, its size, shape, texture and its movement.

Solutions

A complete reconstruction of the hologram in the form of a cave bear was delivered. The holographic installation fits well into the space and takes visitors back to the past of the karst underground with the help of sound and projection of the mother and cub of a cave bear in motion.