Moment Factory Transforms National Geographic Museum With Ocean Projections

Moment Factory has transformed the courtyard of the National Geographic Museum of Exploration in Washington, D.C., into an immersive nighttime attraction that takes visitors beneath the ocean's surface through projection mapping, interactive media and spatial audio. Called Wonders of Our World: Ocean, the 17-minute experience uses footage captured by National Geographic Explorers, combined with custom visual effects, to recreate marine environments and encounters with ocean wildlife. The show opened in June alongside the new museum, part of a major redevelopment of the National Geographic Society's headquarters.

The installation combines large-scale architectural projections, high-resolution LED screens, dynamic lighting and spatialized sound to surround visitors with underwater imagery. A central feature is the museum pavilion's smart-glass facade, which serves as a projection surface while also creating effects involving transparency, depth and three-dimensional illusions. The studio worked with the project's architects to integrate the technology into the building, creating a multilayered visual environment that extends beyond a conventional building-mapping installation.

The pavilion installation is the world's largest use of smart glass for this type of projection experience. Before the main presentation, visitors encounter interactive floor projections and ambient lighting in the courtyard. Following the show, the floor projections respond to visitors' movements, creating effects inspired by bioluminescent marine life. The production combines original music with spatial audio to accompany imagery of ocean environments, marine wildlife and underwater exploration.

The nighttime attraction is one of three experiences Moment Factory developed for the National Geographic Museum of Exploration. The studio also contributed to Geoverse, an interactive educational environment exploring geography and natural landscapes, and Photo Ark: Animals of Earth, an exhibition featuring the wildlife photography of National Geographic Explorer Joel Sartore. The museum, which opened June 26, encompasses more than 100,000 square feet (9,290 square meters) of public space, including immersive galleries, interactive exhibitions and a renovated theater. Wonders of Our World: Ocean extends the museum's programming into the evening, using the building itself as a display surface and turning its outdoor courtyard into an additional attraction.