Review: Smithsonian Starstruck at Science Museum
- Immersive Rumours
- 16 hours ago
- 2 min read
Image: Smithsonian Starstruck: An Immersive Experience
Smithsonian Starstruck is a brand-new immersive VR experience produced by the US-based Smithsonian Institute and Fever. Based on real astronomical data gathered from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the 40-minute-long experience has groups of up to six people at a time exploring the outer reaches of the cosmos and witnessing solar flares, black holes and far-off stars up close.
Running out of South Kensington's Science Museum, it's the latest paid add-on to arrive at the museum, which is still free to visit (though pre-booking is advised). Alongside the experience's London debut, Smithsonian Starstruck is also running in Manchester at Transmission House alongside Fever's Machu Picchu: Journey to the Lost City and in multiple other locations across the globe.
Image: Smithsonian Starstruck: An Immersive Experience
After a brief introduction and headset fitting, guests are welcomed into a fully virtual universe. Guided through the experience by Astro - a floating outline of an astronaut (voiced by James Seawood) - visitors travel between a dozen or so destinations by hitching a ride aboard passing space telescopes and probes. Along the way, there's stop-offs at Jansenn, an exoplanet where the atmospheric pressure and temperature are so high that diamonds are believed to exist there; the breathtaking Pillars of Creation inside the Eagle Nebula; and Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole that sits at the centre of the Milky Way.
Throughout, Astro acts as a cosmic tour guide, providing enough information to make every stop educational, but never overly technical. Several scenes also contain interactive models of the probes and telescopes responsible for gathering much of the data used in the experience. Picking these up unlocks additional facts about how they operate and the discoveries they've made.
Given that nearly everything depicted in Starstruck is unimaginably larger than Earth, the scale conveyed through the experience's wireless HTC Vive headsets is appropriately huge, and it takes no time at all to feel very, very small in comparison to the rest of the cosmos.
Image: Smithsonian Starstruck: An Immersive Experience
While everything on display in Starstruck is based on real astronomical data, some of the virtual scenes depicted are the best available interpretations, so there's a certain amount of creative licence at work here, but it's all firmly rooted in cold, hard data.
Having an opportunity to look up at virtual recreations of the sun, stand on the edge of black holes and generally marvel at just how big outer space really is is undeniably cool, but as a VR-based experience, Smithsonian Starstruck is fairly restrictive when it comes to letting guests explore these beautiful environments at their leisure, and they're confined to pretty small play areas during each stop.
Visually stunning, educational and grand in scale, Smithsonian Starstruck is a solid VR experience that succeeds in making the universe feel both beautiful and unbelievably vast. Those already interested in space will find plenty to enjoy, but for many, the experience will feel more like an immersive documentary than a true adventure into the cosmos.
★★★½
[Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review]
Smithsonian Starstruck: An Immersive Experience runs at the Science Museum near South Kensington station. Tickets are priced from £21.00 for Adults and £15.90 for Children. For more information and to book tickets, visit feverup.com