HIVE media servers have been selected to power the Natural History Museum’s inaugural immersive experience, Our Story with David Attenborough, with a voiceover from the legendary presenter, which opened in summer 2025. The installation, hosted in the London museum’s Jerwood Gallery, uses high-performance media playback to deliver a 360-degree visual and audio journey exploring humanity’s connection with the Earth.
The experience combines 17 Epson projectors, 50 loudspeakers from EM Acoustics’ Reference and EMS series, and five projection-mapped surfaces spanning all four walls and the floor. Content is rendered at 8K resolution (H.265 10-bit) and played back at a high data rate of 800 Mbps.
HIVE deployed 17 Beeblade Pluto media engines housed within a single Nucleus chassis and one Beehive rackmount enclosure. The company said this setup allowed the system to stream large-format media directly from a central master file, maintaining resolution and offering flexibility for the creative team.
HIVE’s integrated Warp & Blend toolkit was used to align all projection surfaces, replacing the initially planned third-party calibration tools and simplifying setup. Central to the system’s synchronisation was Beesync, HIVE’s proprietary HDMI “genlock” (generator locking) solution that employs machine learning to predict and correct HDMI timing drift in real time.
HIVE engineers collaborated closely with Bild Studios throughout installation, providing hands-on support for calibration, content testing, and integration. The company says that remote access capabilities and responsive technical support were critical for meeting tight deadlines and maintaining system reliability.
The experience was produced by Open Planet Studios in partnership with Bild Studios and Luke Halls Studio. AV distributor Midwich and its specialist division PSCo supplied the HIVE media servers, while AED provided the Epson projectors.
David Bajt, co-founder of Bild Studios, said: “The HIVE platform offered a reliable, high-performance solution for our large-scale mapping needs – all at a highly cost-effective price point.”
Mark Calvert, CEO, HIVE, added: “Working inside the Natural History Museum was a childhood dream… Being part of a project that aligns so closely with HIVE’s values around sustainability, creative storytelling and protecting our only habitable world is incredibly rewarding.”
The exhibition has received strong critical acclaim, with sold-out shows and praise from outlets such as The Guardian, which described it as a “trail-blazing theatre experience”.
