HOUSTON — An invitation to the International Space Station is pretty exclusive, one only about 250 astronauts have ever received. Starting Dec. 20, you can visit without ever leaving Earth via The Infinite, an out-of-this-world experience making its U.S. debut at Houston’s Sawyer Yards.
"Houston really is Space City for us, as it is the rest of the world, but it was really central to our operations, so we had to do the U.S. premiere in Houston," said Félix Lajeunesse, co-founder and creative director of Felix & Paul Studios.
The installation is the brainchild of Felix & Paul Studios and PHI Studio in collaboration with TIME Studios, the Canadian Space Agency, the ISS U.S. National Lab and NASA.
"We used to come to Houston to work with the teams here in order to pull that off to make that production happen," Lajeunesse said. "We filmed for 2.5 years on board the space station."
The result is a 60-minute journey taken using virtual reality. It starts with a walk through a space-age entry way and lifts off into an introduction room before visitors put on virtual reality headsets.
"We sent 3D 360-degree cameras that were built for that specific purpose of filming inside the space station and what that does is it captures reality at 360-degree in 3D," explained Lajeunesse. "So you have a sense of presence. You have a sense when you watch a scene that you are there."
Once the headsets are calibrated, visitors walk though a light tunnel to explore a life-sized, 360-degree, interactive model of the ISS.
"One thing that I really enjoyed when the experience was presented in Montreal was just to go on the floor and look and watch people’s reactions as they’re living through the experience," said Éric Albert, PHI Center CEO.
Done exploring inside the ISS, visitors then take a seat and venture outside of it on a virtual spacewalk.
"The whole thing is about presence and it’s about full immersion," Lajeunesse said.
After the spacewalk, visitors take the headset off and set it on a conveyor belt for it to be sanitized, part of The Infinite’s efforts to keep the public safe. Masks are also required and groups are limited so people have plenty of space to explore.
"The exhibition was built with COVID in mind," said Albert. “We really minimize the risks for people.”
The end of the virtual reality experience is not the end of The Infinite. Three art installations that help bring you back to Earth.
"People are leaving with an unforgettable experience," Albert says.
Admission for The Infinite starts at $29 through Jan. 12, 2022. After that and until the installation closes on February 20, it bumps up to $36.
Kids younger than 8 are not allowed and neither are high heels.
For more information, visit The Infinite's website.