Space – Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?
Production company: Sarner | Cosmic Carrot
Client: The Natural History Museum
Sarner International designed and installed three immersive experiences for the The Natural History Museum’s major Space exhibition, which opened in May 2025. I was commissioned through Cosmic Carrot to create the spatial audio across all three experiences. The installations serve as dramatic anchor points throughout the visitor journey, adopting an artistic approach that complements the exhibition's clean, modern aesthetic while exploring one of humanity's oldest questions: are we alone in the universe? Aimed at adults and families with children aged nine and above, the brief called for experiences that would engage visitors on an emotional and reflective level rather than relying on literal recreations.
The three experiences begin with Origins of Life, a 2.3-metre suspended sphere using projection mapping to blur the boundaries between microphotography and astronomy. As the title sequence and audible attractor for audiences in the wider museum, I created a welcoming environment with celestial string textures over a quadraphonic system. Each bacteria animation has its own spatialised sound design that follows the projection mapping, drawing inspiration from actual recordings of bacteria samples while avoiding overly aquatic qualities.
The centrepiece Mars installation immerses visitors in a 7-metre projection of Jezero Crater, featuring a richly layered soundscape and multi sensory effects including wind gusts during dust storms. Interactive "windows into the past" allow visitors to glimpse Mars as it once might have been, with vast oceans and blue skies. The audio brief prioritised realism, replicating how sound actually travels on Mars. This resulted in a subtle soundtrack with hard low-pass filtering to reflect Mars's thin atmosphere, incorporating NASA's actual Perseverance rover recordings. All musical elements were built in the key of F, matching the bass frequency of the Ingenuity helicopter drone.
The journey concludes with Speculative Life Forms, where visitors trigger animated visions of scientifically-grounded alien creatures across a constellation of suspended screens. The soundscape comprises grand orchestral textures and ambient tones, with each of the three life form areas featuring imagined environments created from processed field recordings. Each animated creature has foley-based sound design emphasising its movements.
The gallery's open-top design meant audio bleed between spaces required careful consideration. All musical elements were designed in the same key to sit together harmoniously across the exhibition.
Experience Design: Sarner
AV Production: Cosmic Carrot
Sound Design and Music: Tim Cowie
Animation: Nev Howell