As I waited in line to enjoy “Space Explorers: The Infinite” at the Kravis Center, I felt like a kid waiting in line for a ride at Magic Kingdom or Universal Studios.
Felix & Paul Studios’ Space Explorers: The Infinite is an immersive, 360-degree, multi-dimensional recreation of the International Space Station (ISS). It’s billed as the world’s largest virtual reality experience, and there’s no reason to doubt the hype. I’ve experienced a few VR experiences, but nothing has captured the depth of visual information or the duration of the nearly hour-long journey to Earth orbit. The Infinite premiered on Kravis in June, and I finally found the time to watch it last week. Below are some impressions from memory, as taking notes during the hands-free experience was impossible and would have wasted precious time in space anyway.
Unless you arrive at Kravis 15 to 30 minutes before the scheduled start, you’ll likely be at least a little behind the other participants, but the anticipation is building. As with many theme-park attractions, ticket holders make their way through a wraparound line in small groups. Staff let groups of 10 in, wait for instructions, and eventually receive their virtual-reality headsets. A flat-screen TV along the wall of the queue room plays high-resolution images of the International Space Station, providing a glimpse into how the VR images were captured. Illuminated banners along the route displayed photos and bios of NASA astronauts who had been fed into the simulation’s content.
After a basic tutorial on how to use the VR technology and other precautions, we were first ushered into a dark room that simulated a space shuttle launch, followed by a cavernous space where we received our much-anticipated headsets. We are sometimes reminded that we are all made of stardust, and beneath the sturdy goggles our avatars are just that: a collection of twinkling, humanoid stars. For the next 30 minutes, we are free to roam wherever we like within the confines of the replica ISS, potentially witnessing around 60 different encounters on board.
If this sounds like FOMO, it is. Participants get only 10 or 12 chances to catch a glimpse of life on the ISS each time, and are encouraged to travel in a different direction on a second or third visit. Organizers have made the selection process easy: Each green or orange sphere that appears in the viewfinder is a different sketch, and to enter it, all you have to do is reach out and touch the hand of a starry avatar.
The first experience kind of catapulted me into space itself: stepping outside the International Space Station, looking at the massive structure itself, then down at the vastness of the Earth, feeling like I was floating in space like Sandra Bullock. For someone with weak knees, it was a wonderful but nerve-wracking start, and a long minute before I was back in the spaceship again.
Most of the sketches feature real astronauts floating in zero gravity, surrounded by the metal, panels, wires and screens of an interstellar base. Sometimes the astronauts talk to you directly, but sometimes their voices narrate and you become an observer observing their daily lives. I won’t go into too much detail about this part, because you might only see parts of these clips, or none at all. Suffice it to say that we see NASA astronauts inspecting their gear, getting haircuts, drinking liquid rations, reflecting on the inseparable solidarity they feel among their fellow travelers, and tossing footballs and half-eaten apples back and forth.
I’m writing this only a day later, but I don’t remember everything that happened. Time flew by, and to make the most of our time on the station, we moved on to the next segment as soon as it ended. The VR portion of “Space Explorers” ended with everyone sitting in their designated chairs and witnessing a spacewalk. Finally, before leaving the gift shop, we watched a video of the Artemis 1 rocket’s unmanned lunar test flight projected on six screens.
In some ways, trying to convey my time at Space Explorers in words is silly. The point of experiential art is that it must be experienced to be understood. Whether it’s your first or thousandth time experiencing VR technology, this is a must-see exhibit that gives visitors true agency and the opportunity to make their own way through the experience. In an age where “immersive” has become an overused buzzword, it’s nice to find an attraction that actually fits that definition.
“Space Explorers: Infinity” runs through Sept. 2 at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Tickets are $25-$50. Call 561/832-7469 or visit kravis.org.
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