Case Study Corner: GLASSEYE’s The Intelligence Garden at Outernet London
In this episode of Case Study Corner, we spoke with Eirmersive member Janet Beck, CEO at GLASSEYE, about The Intelligence Garden — a large-scale immersive experience commissioned for Outernet London, one of the most ambitious digital public spaces in the world.
Outernet’s Now Building is a free, open-access cultural venue located off Tottenham Court Road, featuring a four-storey, 23,000 square foot, 16K LED environment with wraparound walls and ceiling. With approximately 85,000 visitors each week, it offers a unique platform for immersive storytelling at architectural scale.
Building on the success of GLASSEYE’s earlier Outernet commission, The Summer Palace — voted the UK’s number one attraction in its launch year — The Intelligence Garden explores the evolution of intelligence across biological, human and digital systems. The experience poses a central question: where does intelligence come from, where is it now, and where is it heading in an era increasingly shaped by AI?
Designed as a narrative journey, the piece places audiences at the centre of the environment. It begins in a dark, cave-like space before opening into a luminous digital garden, with organic forms, architectural structures and computational systems unfolding around viewers. Sound, light and motion are used deliberately to guide attention, encouraging audiences to look up, move through the space and engage emotionally with the work.
“Technology should always be at the service of the story. The most powerful immersive experiences aren’t about spectacle — they’re about purpose, narrative, and the problem you’re trying to solve.”
Delivering an experience of this scale comes with significant technical and creative challenges. GLASSEYE employed Unreal Engine and real-time technologies to create and manage extremely high-resolution content across a 360-degree environment. The project was led by creative director Augustine Vidal Saavedra and delivered by a multidisciplinary team spanning design, technology and development.
Audience response has been exceptionally strong. GLASSEYE closely observes how visitors move, pause and react inside the space, designing moments intended to provoke reflection and emotional response. The visibility of the work has also had a major commercial impact, directly contributing to new international opportunities for the Irish studio.
For organisations exploring immersive technologies, Janet emphasises three key takeaways: prioritise story over spectacle, design for spatial rather than linear experiences, and don’t be afraid to start small. Even at modest scale, immersive technologies can be powerful tools for communicating complex ideas and connecting with audiences in meaningful ways.
The Intelligence Garden will also be available in VR formats for Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest, but the full impact of the work is best experienced in person at Outernet London.
Watch the interview in full below.