The Museum of the Future opened in Dubai on Feb. 22, 2022, and has since become one of the city's iconic landmarks.
In July 2021, before its opening, National Geographic had named it one of the world's 14 most beautiful museums.
The structure stands 77 meters tall and is wrapped in 14,000 square meters of Arabic calligraphy etched into stainless steel, which doubles as windows that let in natural light.
At the entrance, visitors receive a wristband fitted with a chip that activates the museum's interactive systems.
Staff guide visitors to line up in groups before entering the elevator. Once the doors close, the space transforms into a simulated spacecraft cabin.
Visitors experience a journey leaving Earth, complete with visual and physical effects: vibrations beneath their feet, a countdown soundtrack, and 3D displays that mimic a rocket flying through the atmosphere.
When the doors open on the top floor, visitors step into the first chapter, set in 2071, the year of the UAE's centennial.
Here, visitors take on the role of travelers exploring the workspaces of the OSS Hope space station. The area includes a control center and a digital map that explains how future humanity might harvest solar energy in space and transmit it back to power life on Earth.
Visitors can also interact with screens to learn about future careers in biology and space technology.
A museum guide narrates the journey throughout. One display recreates the Dubai skyline in 2071. This section also houses a simulated Amazon rainforest room, recreated through digital projection technology that mimics temperature, humidity, and scents from plants and damp soil.
The highlight of the museum experience is a room called the DNA Library.
It is filled with more than 2,400 glass tubes, each containing a 3D model of species, ranging from insects and plants to animals facing extinction.
Visitors can use scanners to learn about each.
The third chapter of the journey leads visitors to Al Waha Oasis, a space designed to confront a paradox of 2071: in a world saturated with technology, inner peace becomes a luxury.
Visitors touring this area are encouraged to put away their devices and instead focus on sensory therapies such as low-frequency sound, therapeutic scents, and water vibrations meant to help restore mental balance. The oasis also serves as a resting point for visitors.
The second floor brings visitors back closer to reality, showcasing technologies still in research or prototype stages, including intelligent robots, AI-powered medical devices, autonomous vehicles, and new biomaterials.
A robot interacts with visitors through voice commands.
From the exhibits on the second floor, a pathway leads visitors out to a balcony. The balcony occupies an asymmetrical gap at the center of the structure. From here, visitors can take in panoramic views of Sheikh Zayed Road and the skyscrapers of Dubai.
The museum allows visitors to film their visit, and the balcony has become a popular spot for photos. Xing Liu, a Taiwanese tourist, said the museum offers a way to engage with science and technology.
