TOMORROWLAND
IN BARCELONA
TOMORROWLAND
IN BARCELONA
TOMORROWLAND
THE GREAT LIBRARY OF TOMORROW
The Great Library of Tomorrow
from Tomorrowland
Immersive experience
until 5 May 2024
The creators of “The Great Library of Tomorrow” are the famous concert/festival organisers Tomorrowland. They have created an immersive VR-world called the “Great Library of Tomorrow”.
I was invited to test it and am now reporting on my experience!
With the code MUSEOS, you can get an exclusive 15% discount on the rather high admission prices.
So be sure to read on!
Yours, Céline
VR-Experience
Tickets
The details
at a glance
Opening Hours
Fixed start times: be on time
Tuesday to Friday: start times between 5.15 a.m. and 9.00 p.m.
Prices
Wednesday – Friday (18.45h): EUR 26.95 for people aged 13 and over
Friday (19.30h) to Sunday: EUR 30.25 for people aged 13 and over
There are family packs for 3 or 4 people (min. 2 children between 6 and 12 years). These are really worthwhile!
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Information
You go as a group from room to room and into the VR world.
If you arrive too late, you will lose your ticket.
There are lockers in front of the entrance for a fee. It’s best to bring as little as possible. However, you can take your back bags inside. Not large suitcases.
Some effects may not be suitable for small children, people with claustrophobia and pregnant women.
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Another VR experience has been up and running in Barcelona since December 2023: The Great Library of Tomorrow.
We are now VR immersive experts, with all the exhibitions at IDEAL and the Centre d’art Amatller, so nothing can really surprise us anymore ;). So we went to the Tomorrowland version without any great expectations.
Once we arrived, we were glad to be on time because you have to be there at the selected slot, as you start the journey as a group.
And I’ll take you there briefly here.
What is there
to see?
THE BEGINNING
In the foyer, you are first given audio headphones (languages: Cat/ES/EN) and a brief explanation that we are walking the path together and that there are colleagues that will help us inside.
And then we got into the first room: music started, and a large globe screen played beautiful video sequences of the earth, plants, an underwater world and clouds in the sunset. A nice start so far.
The next corridor reminded me very much of the work of Studio Irma in the Moco Museum. A mirrored room with strings of lights hanging down, going on and off and glowing in shades of blue.
It’s a great photo subject, but the work at the Moco Museum is better executed. There, I really felt like I was in a dream world of diamonds. Here the room was too dark, and the lights were not as beautiful. But maybe my somewhat negative assessment is because I already knew something like this… (The third photo is the Moco Museum for comparison).
IT'S ABOUT TO START
Unfortunately, the third room was a bit bland. On one side, you can take photos of yourself, which will then be used somewhere at some point – but there’s no real indication of this. So, maybe you’ll see me there at some point?
There were also illuminated curtains, which looked nice but weren’t explained in any detail.
I also had my headphones on and didn’t realise that the VR experience was being explained to the group behind the curtains. So I had to ask for an extra explanation.
The waiting time was also quite long here… Even if you don’t catch the beginning 😉
But then you get your VR glasses and enter the main happening of this experience: The great Library of Tomorrow!
So now it started. The mobile phone goes into the bag – because now everything happens in the glasses!
You can choose a colour, and this is important because the group is divided up again inside. You then always have to get into the corresponding “lifts”, but don’t worry: you only ever see your colour. No confusion possible.
So you put on your glasses and off you go. In the real world, you simply walk in a large rectangular room, but in the VR world you walk in a huge library. If you look up and down, you can see bookshelves everywhere. You can go through curtains to different sections of the library, roll up scrolls and so on.
This first room was ok, but disappointing for me at first… But I didn’t know where the journey would continue. Because suddenly, we were supposed to go to our “lifts”…
The movement of the pictures really made it feel as if the floor was moving under our feet. It went up, to the right, to the left – it was like being on a rollercoaster. (Attention all those who have problems with this).
And then the lift stopped and a beautiful world emerged. We were surrounded by a rock face, wondrous flowers grew there, and little lights showed us the way out of this labyrinth. Along the way we could touch objects, and finally, we ended up on a kind of balcony with the most marvellous view of another world. (Photo from a video that will be shown later in the shop).
Hummingbirds flew around, strange flying objects could be seen and an endless forest (jungle).
And suddenly, we were back in the library…
This time you could “pull” books from the shelves and there were explanations about the Tomorrowland motifs. What does the hummingbird stand for, what do the butterflies represent, etc.? There was even a video of a festival that you could watch.
At this point, I thought to myself again: phew, they just want to advertise the festivals…
And then you had to go back to your lift and the journey continued. A huge tree towered in front of you, surrounded by wonderful flowers that scattered lights when you touched them. You walked over a rather holey wooden bridge and had another view of the forest.
I’ll leave out what follows here, as we would rather not give too much away.
The whole visit takes about 55 minutes.
THE VR EXPERIENCE
THE LIBRARY
CONCLUSION
I have to say, I’m somewhat divided in my opinion…
Positive:
- The fact that you walk around with VR glasses is something I’ve only experienced once before (back then at Dali in the Ideal). It was a real experience to be able to move around “freely”. In most other VR experiences, such as Sorolla in the Amatller, you sit and can only move your head.
- The dream worlds were really beautifully created. If you like entering “fairytale worlds”, this is the place for you.
- The first room was very good as an introduction
- The staff were super friendly and helpful
Negatives:
- The prices are quite high. Roughly the price of a visit to the Sagrada Família is charged here. And the Sagrada is a cultural heritage site that is also far too expensive. So it’s good that you can save a bit with the code MUSEOS!
- The walkway of lights was nice, but nothing new for me.
- I found the VR areas of the library a bit boring and too promotional.
Caution: The movements with the VR glasses may not be suitable for everyone. Young children who have never tried it before, pregnant women because of the “movement” and claustrophobic, anxious people should think twice about visiting. However, the staff are present in the VR world. If you feel sick, if your glasses pinch or anything else, you will be helped.
In the end, I would say that the visit is just right for VR and Tomorrowland fans and for those who really want to give it a try.
For semi-VR interested first-time visitors to Barcelona, I would recommend visiting the classic sights. Or a visit to the Ideal (currently Tutankamon) or Sorolla in the Centre d’Art Amatller. They combine history and art with this new technology.
Your Céline
Text- and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2024
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