The 10,000-square-meter attraction at Mandai Wildlife Reserve combines 87 interactive installations, digital storytelling and multisensory environments to explore nature's most inaccessible habitats.
Singapore’s Exploria: GSM Studios Reveals Creative Design
Montreal-based GSM Studios has detailed its creative design and production work on Exploria, the immersive nature attraction that opened at Singapore’s Mandai Wildlife Reserve in March.
The permanent 10,000-square-meter (107,640-square-foot) venue guides visitors through five themed environments, using digital media, interactive installations and sensory effects to explore ecosystems ranging from prehistoric habitats to the depths of the ocean.
Unlike a conventional wildlife attraction, Exploria features no living animals. Instead, it uses multimedia storytelling to introduce visitors to 250 species, including those that are extinct, microscopic or difficult to observe in their natural habitats.
GSM Studios developed the attraction’s concept, creative direction and visitor experience, coordinating an international team of designers, content producers and technical specialists.
Five worlds of discovery
At the center of Exploria is Our Interconnected World, a hub featuring a large digital sphere. A multimedia presentation, Our Planet Awakens, uses the sphere to illustrate the relationships between Earth’s ecosystems.
From there, visitors explore five environments.
Realm of the Giants combines monumental sculptures, augmented reality and a 360-degree multisensory presentation to recreate prehistoric wildlife and examine mass extinction.
Micro Worlds uses illuminated spheres, interactive exhibits and physical models to reveal organisms such as plankton, fungi and bacteria.
World of Darkness recreates deep-ocean and subterranean environments, while Infinite Wonderland takes visitors through rainforests, coral reefs and other biodiverse habitats.
The fifth zone, Bitdeer AI Extreme Frontiers, uses mixed-media simulators, temperature changes and wind effects to recreate extreme environments, including deserts and polar regions.
Rather than aiming for strict realism, GSM Studios designed the environments to blend scientific information with imaginative visual storytelling.
Interactive technology connects the experience
Montreal-based interactive studio Dpt. developed 87 interactive installations in collaboration with Singapore-based Electronics & Engineering, which handled multimedia and AV systems integration.
The installations incorporate original wildlife animations, interactive missions and gameplay elements.
Visitors receive RFID wristbands linked to personalized digital avatars. As they move through the attraction, they can complete challenges, collect species badges and track their progress across the five environments.
The technology connects individual installations into a unified visitor experience rather than treating each exhibit as a standalone presentation.
“Exploria was born out of Mandai Wildlife Group’s ambition to create a nature-themed attraction capable of both inspiring and educating audiences, while maintaining a balance between rigorous scientific content and the immersive power of themed entertainment,” said Nathanaël Meyer, Executive Creative Director at GSM Studios.
“Our team developed the concept, led the design and worked closely with Mandai to manage and produce every component of the experience through to the final installation,” added Fiona Ng, Managing Director of GSM Studios Singapore.
The project also involved Forrec for attraction planning, Lightemotion for lighting design and several specialist content and production studios.
Exploria opened March 3 as part of Mandai Wildlife Reserve’s expansion of its indoor visitor attractions, combining immersive entertainment with education about biodiversity and conservation.