MYSTERIOUS GLOBAL SEED VAULT UNLOCKED AS THE WORLD GETS A VIRTUAL GLIMPSE
Virtual access to the world’s ‘Doomsday’ seed vault has been unveiled by a virtual tour company in Devon, opening our eyes to one of humanity’s greatest resources.
The Virtual Tour Experts, based in Devon, have unveiled a glimpse inside the mysterious ‘Bond-like’ Global Seed Vault that is responsible for safeguarding the world’s crop species.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault backs up seed samples from almost every country in the world, storing the contents to safeguard against effects of the climate crisis on our food systems, natural and human-made catastrophes, and conflict. The Seed Vault was established by Norway and operates in a partnership between the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, NordGen and the Crop Trust.
Neil Henderson, owner of The Virtual Tour Experts, based in Devon, UK, in close collaboration with the Crop Trust, produced a stunning virtual tour of the vault, which has never been open to the public. Everyone across the globe now has an invitation to see inside the mysterious building.
Shooting the tour
Neil and his team travelled to the Norwegian Arctic to meet the Crop Trust team and film the tour under tight restrictions as the vault is closed to the public.
Neil said: “The experience filming the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and very humbling. But this great honour didn’t come without challenges as the building is buried in Arctic permafrost. With rumours of polar bears lurking nearby, we shot in freezing temperatures of around -20°C in hazardous materials gear, while ensuring our equipment functioned properly to produce the best possible image quality from the air and ground.”
“The level of detail in the tour is amazing and, most importantly, allows users to understand the important work that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault does for our planet and humanity. The experience felt like one straight out of a James Bond film but the biggest reward is the education our world will receive about this important work, especially amid rising climate concerns.”
The virtual tour features a glimpse inside the high security vault and the surrounding area with stunning Arctic views from the air and ground.
The Technology behind the tour
The tour features unique technology developed by The Virtual Tour Experts that goes above and beyond the typical virtual tour. Setting new standards in the world of immersive experiences, the Svalbard tour features a bespoke design and easy-to-update content management system, with a ‘change of state’ feature that switches from day to night views. A talking video guide gives users an introduction to the Svalbard Seed Vault while visitors from around the world can leverage the multilanguage functionality of the tour. One of the most cutting-edge features of the tour is its world-class accessibility widget.
Other interactive features give the user space to explore and better understand the vault. Walk down aisles of seed deposits from countries around the world and click on their boxes to find out more about each deposit. The detailed image quality also allows users to zoom into spaces throughout the vault to learn more.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault virtual tour was launched to celebrate the Seed Vault’s 15th anniversary. To view the interactive virtual tour, visit www.seedvaultvirtualtour.com.
