AYA Universe Dubai

A visit to the AYA Universe in Dubai is a great sensory adventure where one goes through twelve worlds each caring about an aspect of the universe envisioned by the designers of the attraction. In this case, technology emerges as a narrative language consisting of lights, colours, sounds and interactive effects. The whole complex appears to be aimed at giving all visitors the sense of a cosmic traveler who has entered different dimensions, brightly lit landscapes and surreal atmospheres.

The first astonishing area is the one of Aurora, the place where the light appears to turn into matter. The action of the body gives the effect of luminous spread on the walls and floor like stardust. Each minute gesture results into a ripple of hues which radiates into the space forming an unending conversation between the visitor and the installation. What a beginning, since it plunges you directly into the soul of the whole AYA universe: you are not only a spectator but a player. Moving on, you pass The Source, which is one of the most intriguing locations of the whole path. A place that reminds of water but actually does not have it: digital pools, fluid light play, surfaces that move like waves when individuals pass. The projections respond to the touch and movements creating feelings of immense calmness. A kind of a meditation atmosphere, light is dancing like the energy of liquids, the sound design is softly playing with each step.

Among the most dreamlike areas there is Drift, a place where the imagination takes over. The walls transform into cosmic scenery, dark skies, galaxies which appear to be slowly moving. It feels like you are in a vacuum and you can see the stars and nebulae changing and evolving continuously. The rhythm of this room is slower and the visit is rather reflective, as though there is time to breathe and allow yourself to be swept away by the aesthetic silence. An entirely different setting is the Outland, which is more cartoon-like and consists of digital characters. Here we see bright figures and imagined creatures, the avatars, which appear to be responding to the arrival of visitors. The installation is an amalgamation of projection, motion tracking, and augmented reality, which gives the impression of a light-based beings populated world. It is sort of like walking in a strange planet where all things are alive and everything is changing.

The River is highly suggestive, an active passageway in which the floor and walls respond to each step, creating tracks of light, impulses and graphic effects in endless development. The experience of passing between this space creates the impression of passing through a stream of celestial forces, almost a transition between two dimensions. One of the rooms that are much favored by visitors is The Pool. You are in a bright tornado that does appear to be moving under your feet as though the floor was alive. The forms change, turn and enlarge according to the beat of the music, plunging those who pass over the room in a storm of visual energy.

Flora represents a bioluminescent forest. The most poetic locality in the AYA Universe. A computerised garden with radiant vegetation, glimmering trees and buildings that breathe life like living things. There is a big steel tree in the centre and when it changes into different colours it gives a magical atmosphere. The setting gives the feeling of serene beauty, as though it were like a call into the ecosystems of a far-off planet.

Tides, a space constructed in the form of luminous columns and structures, which are reflected interminably, is also quite distinctive. The game of reflections and shadows provides the experience of being inside a temple of light without limits, the one that disrupts the sense of space. It is almost hypnotic to walk amidst these digital sculptures. The AYA worlds themselves do not last long (only a few minutes), although the general impression of the experience is achieved through the manner in which the rooms are succeeded: more active experiences are then contrasted by less active ones, or the other way round, providing a balance between wonder and contemplation and active engagement.