The first virtual zoo has opened in Australia to learn about animals without cruelty

In Brisbane, capital of the Australian state of Queensland, the company Axiom Holographics has created the world's first holographic zoo, that is, capable of reproduce three-dimensional images and realistic animals by exploiting the interference of light waves.Giraffes, elephants, whales, polar bears:visitors will be able to see creatures from all over the world up close, who will appear to be there, in the flesh, in front of those who approach or move around them.A three hundred and sixty degree experience to live without any animal being deprived of its freedom or suffer mistreatment and coercion.

The structure, approximately one thousand square meters large and equipped with cutting-edge technologies - so as to make the visit as realistic as possible - gives the possibility to choose the environment and the area to visit.You can travel across Africa or dive into the ocean, surrounded by life-size creatures.Trees and flowers are also equipped with a particular technology capable of reproduce odors, so that we can smell them.

Bruce Dell, CEO of Axiom and creator of the virtual zoo, said he intended to bring the project to other parts of the world - including Europe - so as to be able to offer guests an "engaging experience, impossible to replicate in a non-virtual environment", while at the same time respecting the dignity of animals.

The World Animal Foundation estimates that at least they are still there 600 thousand birds and mammals kept in zoos, and that America alone has more tigers in cages than there are in the wild.Many of these animals, locked up in facilities intended for human entertainment, suffer abuse and humiliation:just think that even human contact can be incredibly stressful.And yet there are numerous activities specifically designed for this purpose, which for example include the possibility of swimming with certain types of cetaceans.

For Dell, hologram zoos can even prove to be much more immersive than actual contact with an animal – which ultimately doesn't want that contact.“You can be teleported to places you wouldn't normally be able to visit, and you can experience things you would never normally see.”Also because, to be honest, seeing a lion weakened and forced to move in a 'fake' forest recreated to give him the impression of being 'at home' is probably a less authentic experience than a three-dimensional laser projection.

[by Gloria Ferrari]