A futuristic attraction is opening in Dubai on Saturday. Aya is an immersive light and sound park that's spread across 3,700 square metres at Wafi City mall.
"A trip to a beautiful universe” is the headline promise of the new destination, with its creators saying they wanted to bring a “unique, future-forward entertainment product” to Dubai.
“Dubai is one of the most interesting cities in the world to set up a business like this — you have an extremely diverse, future-forward, highly digitally-engaged audience, and it's one of the most visited cities in the world,” says Alexander Heller, chief executive of HyperSpace, developer of Aya.
The park utilises lights, sounds, as well as mirrors to create an otherworldly experience for visitors. It is divided into 12 zones, with each meant to evoke a specific reaction from guests.
“Aya is a transformative experience that transports you, as a person, to a land far, far away. We use the theme of travel a lot — the idea is that you are going to a distant universe, you are interacting with technology in a way that you've never really done before,” Heller tells The National. “Aya is supposed to grab your heart, grab your stomach and take you on a ride.”
Each room, or zone, at the park is designed to create a “highly sensory, out-of-body experience”, which Heller describes as akin to “standing on the beach with the waves crashing to the side of cliffs or standing on top of a mountain covered in snow”.
The zones also feature individual shows, a vibrant choreography of lights and sounds that could go on for up to seven minutes. The staff, aptly dressed in cream-coloured robes, guide visitors to move from one room to another.
Unlike Infinity des Lumieres in The Dubai Mall, Aya features mostly abstract imagery, incorporating extraterrestrial elements in some of the light projections. One room features jellyfish-like creatures swimming or flying through an ethereal dimension.
Another room requires visitors to lay on their backs and watch a light show projected on the ceiling — the idea is to create an illusion of floating.
Other zones include The Falls, which features a reverse waterfall, and The Pool or a circular projection on the floor imitating a deep vortex. Another room is Flora, featuring a sentient garden with illuminated grass.
With its headquarters at the Dubai Design District, HyperSpace will soon launch another attraction, House of Hype, in The Dubai Mall next year. The 9,290-square-metre venue is set to become a gaming and content hub that “connects the physical and the digital worlds," says Heller.
“It's like when TikTok and Fortnite had a big physical baby,” says HyperSpace CEO Heller. “It's a park powered by tokens and digital assets.”
Aya is in the main atrium of Wafi City mall in Oud Metha. Tickets start at Dh99 online and are Dh125 at the door
The biog
Hobby: "It is not really a hobby but I am very curious person. I love reading and spend hours on research."
Favourite author: Malcom Gladwell
Favourite travel destination: "Antigua in the Caribbean because I have emotional attachment to it. It is where I got married."
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
