Media high-fliers embark on a mission to Mars

DUBAI: Enter one of the main rooms of Dubai’s Arab Media Forum and you will find yourself inside a bright, white futuristic tunnel with four windows, all detailing different demographics and statistics of the planet on which you have landed — Mars.
Just as you leave the tunnel lined with “emergency oxygen tanks,” you find yourself in a large hall filled with red rocks and craters, with smooth, minimal stage sets that cater to the theme of this year’s forum, the “leap to the future.”
From installations that mimic Earth’s four seasons to a nitro-bar complete with odd-colored juice boosters in bulb, the forum transports visitors from Dubai’s desert sun to Mars’ magnetic atmosphere.
The seasonal installations include smells and physical sensations believed to be beneficial to human health. After bumping into a robot fumbling around the hall, visitors come across a stand that appears to be straight out of a sci-fi film. But, inside, an Arab “astronaut” acts as a guide, with an interactive wall that is activated by a simple touch of the finger highlighting the future of the UAE.
Hidden in the corner, behind the enormous central screen, lies a rocky, red crater filled with colored plastic balls — part of the “fun” approach adopted by the forum. The crater is surrounded by installed palm trees with futuristic blue “tire swings.”
Talks and panels on the future of Arab media are broadcast on edgy screens hanging from the high ceilings, with topics such as the changing media landscape, artificial intelligence and the role of the press in shaping the coming century.