A man interacts with a motion-reactive holographic projection at a museum, her movements transforming into stars in real time, created by Bright Side Studios.

Giant Leaps: Interactive Immersive Installation, Manchester Science and Industry Museum

Giant Leaps was created for the Manchester Science and Industry Museum in collaboration with choreographer Corey Baker — an artist with an ambition to choreograph a dance for astronauts, developed in partnership with the European Space Agency. The result was an interactive immersive installation that placed audiences inside a living, responsive universe of their own making.

Using state-of-the-art depth sensors and custom-built software, we transformed the movements of participants and dancers into real-time particle systems — every gesture generating thousands of stars, forming galaxies that expanded and burst into light around the people inside the experience.

Our Role
Interactive Design, Real-time Animation, Development & Holographic Projection

Where human movement becomes the universe

The visual world of Giant Leaps was drawn from imagery captured by the James Webb and Chandra X-ray Observatories — grounding the experience in the awe-inspiring reality of deep space while making it entirely personal. Holographic projection captured the real-time animations, giving the illusion of floating galaxies surrounding participants as Corey Baker's dancers performed among the stars.

Designed to spark curiosity in STEM, the experience explored how human movement changes across different atmospheres — translating complex scientific ideas into something physical, playful, and emotionally immediate. Ambient music and props invited audiences of all ages to move freely and become part of the work.

Following its debut at the Manchester Science Festival, Giant Leaps transferred to the National Science and Media Museum for an extended run.