Have you ever wondered what the world looks like from a giraffe’s perspective? In Beersheba, Israel’s newly opened Midbarium experiential animal park, or zoo, visitors not only observe wild animals but also “become” the majestic creatures. Spanning 37 acres, the zoo houses more than 100 species of animals, including leopards, zebras and, many children’s favorite, giraffes. The Beersheba Midbarium was created with the idea of active interaction between visitors and animals. The zoo has as few barriers as possible, to achieve an immersive experience, but nothing is quite as immersive as the interactive, educational aspects of the exhibits.
Hata’asiya Group, or The Industry, which is a multi-disciplinary design and technology company based in Tel Aviv, created 15 interactive experiences for visitors that allow them to hunt like a crocodile and use a bat’s echolocation to navigate in the dark. These educational features, like the eye-catching giraffe-shaped elevators that allow visitors to see the world from a giraffe’s point of view, were created with the education of children in mind. “We started from the realization that children don’t read signs. This is sad but true; they’re used to using their hands, not their reading skills. Kids are used to computers and video games and PlayStations. We didn’t want to give them more screens, so we thought, ‘Let’s make them active, be physical; let them be the animals,’” explains Yariv Gibli, co-CEO of Hata’asiya.
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