Dive the Great Barrier Reef with Sir David Attenborough

Book tickets: www.nhm.ac.uk/reefdiveVR

Media preview: Tuesday 8 December 2015, 8.30-10.00

Travel deep beneath the waves of a natural wonderland in David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef Dive and discover a breathtaking world of vibrant corals, darting fish and deadly reef sharks. In a state of the art submersible, Attenborough will guide you through this extraordinary community of life, which with over 3000 reef systems, forms one of the most important natural resources on Earth.   

Running from 11 December 2015 in the Museum’s Attenborough Studio, the experience coincides with BBC ONE’s new landmark series, David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef, which premiers this winter in the UK. 

Created by Atlantic Productions and its virtual reality studio Alchemy VR, the experience will give you a rare opportunity to come face to face with the incredible diversity and abundance of the Great Barrier Reef. Part of the experience was filmed in conjunction with Jaunt and their pioneering camera system.

A giant Turbinaria coral specimen collected 120 years ago will also be brought out from behind the scenes and displayed outside the Attenborough Studio to complement the experience. Many of the coral species seen in the VR dive are also present in the Museum’s collection and used daily in research by scientists. 

Historic corals such as the Turbinaria help researchers understand the past and predict the future response of reef to human caused environmental change, one of the biggest challenges facing our natural world today. 

The approximately 15 minute experience plays on Samsung’s latest wearable technology, the Gear VR Innovator Edition virtual reality headsets, a continuation of the collaboration with the Museum for the critically acclaimed David Attenborough’s First Life VR.

Sir Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum, says: 'Virtual reality is a powerful way of transporting us to some of the most extraordinary environments on our planet. At the Natural History Museum, we’re always looking for new ways to challenge the way people think about the natural world – its past, present and future. This experience provides a rare insight into the beauty and diversity of the Great Barrier Reef. It highlights the knowledge from research that is so vital for understanding and adapting to environmental change in one of Earth’s most important ecosystems.'

Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions and Alchemy VR adds: 'We are continuously innovating and providing more immersive and compelling natural history content. David’s exploration of the Great Barrier Reef is the latest example of this: using a host of pioneering technologies and research to shed new light on this magnificent habitat. Through VR, we are able to bring the audience on an unforgettable journey, side by side with David Attenborough.'

Visitor information

Book tickets: www.nhm.ac.uk/reefdiveVR

Admission: £6.50 for adults, £4.50 for members and patrons

Visitor enquiries: 020 7942 5000

Nearest tube: South Kensington

Twitter: @NHM_London

Notes for editors 

Media preview of David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef Dive is at the Natural History Museum on Tuesday 8 December 2015, 8.30-10.00. For further information email press@nhm.ac.uk (not for publication).

Images: Please download from https://nhm.box.com/s/xpks1h7coa3hnjw66wl0nvvd1ta87z5n   

• The Natural History Museum welcomes more than five million visitors a year and is a world-leading science research centre. Through its unique collection and unrivalled expertise it is tackling the biggest challenges facing the world today. It helps enable food security, eradicate disease and manage resource scarcity. It is studying the diversity of life and the delicate balance of ecosystems to ensure the survival of our planet. www.nhm.ac.uk.
• The Atlantic group contains a variety of companies which make television programmes, theatrical and IMAX films, apps, visual effects and now, immersive virtual reality experiences. Since its inception in 1992, Atlantic Productions has built a reputation for world-class storytelling, enhanced by the latest techniques and technologies including the building of pioneering cross-platform and digital experiences, most recently establishing a leading position in creating content for 3D, 4K and VR platforms. Atlantic’s television, theatrical and IMAX documentaries and dramas cover a great variety of subjects including: the recent BBC2 series Inside the Commons, landmark 8-part series Egypt Unwrapped and the theatrical doc about Everest – Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest and their films have been seen in over 100 countries. 
• Atlantic is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Huw Weldon BAFTA award for Specialist Factual twice in the last four years for David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive 3D (2014) and David Attenborough’s Flying Monsters 3D (2011). International awards include multiple EMMY’s, Best Films at New York & Chicago Film Festivals, RTS awards, Lumiere Best European 3D Documentary Awards and Best 3D awards at the Wildscreen and Jackson Hole festivals. As innovators in new technology, Atlantic Productions uses multiple platforms to reach different audiences across the world. Several of its Apps have been nominated by Apple as their top 10 apps of the year. www.atlanticproductions.tv. 
• Alchemy VR: Born out of collaboration between Atlantic Productions and Zoo VFX, Alchemy’s vision is to create the most compelling virtual reality storytelling experiences in the world. Alchemy combines visual effects, real time rendering, and live action video to create, narrative-driven Virtual Reality experiences. For more information visit www.alchemyvr.com.
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies, redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, printers, medical equipment, network systems, and semiconductor and LED solutions. We are also leading in the Internet of Things space through, among others, our Smart Home and Digital Health initiatives. We employ 307,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US $196 billion. To discover more, please visit our official website at www.samsung.com and our official blog at global.samsungtomorrow.com.