Londoners can take a dive into the underwater world of a colony of penguins without leaving the city.

London Zoo has unveiled a new experience at Tottenham Court Road’s Outernet space that opened on July 26.

The week-long immersive video installation brings the wonder of the iconic Penguin Beach habitat to central London, using the world’s largest LED screen by pixel density. 

Marking the first time actual 360° video has ever been used in an Outernet exhibition, the installation will give visitors a jaw-dropping panoramic view and soundscape, as it immerses them in the heart of the zoo’s Humboldt penguins’ home.

The experience is on until August 1. The experience is on until August 1. (Image: ZSL)

London Zoo to bring Penguins to central London in installation

The project has been overseen by creative studio Circus and their Head of VR Production Joby Catto, and the London Zoo project uses world-leading VR technology to bring Londoners closer to wildlife and inspire the conservationists of tomorrow. 

National Geographic videographer and virtual reality specialist Ignacio Ferrando Margelí was tasked with filming at the zoo’s penguin pool, which holds 450,000 litres of water and is home to 60 Humboldt penguins.

The videographer used a custom penguin-proof and waterproof camera rig, fusing six 4K-resolution GoPro cameras together to capture breathtaking visuals from all angles. 

Once the camera was ready to go, Ignacio and the Circus production team carefully winched the camera over the centre of the pool, before lowering it into the water.

The penguins did not wait long to take a few exploratory pecks at the camera, its plastic shell withstanding some nips from the colony’s most curious penguin, Phineas. 

London Zoo penguin keeper Shannon Quinn said, “The penguins are very curious by nature, so they were definitely intrigued by the 360° camera equipment. 

“The greatest challenge was waiting patiently for them to swim close enough to the camera when they made their laps around the pool.

"Besides a bucket of fish, the most useful tool - and a penguin keeper’s best-kept secret - was a laser pointer.

@londonzooofficial IT'S MOULTING SEASON! You might notice our Humboldt penguins looking a little shabby at the moment - but don't worry they're fine! Rather than constantly shedding individual feathers, penguins shed their whole coat at once during a "catastrophic moult" which lasts for several weeks in summer. They also put on lots of weight before moulting, because without their waterproof feathers they can't swim as much to catch fish. #Penguins #Zoo ♬ original sound - amaliatown

"Much like cats, the penguins are intrigued by the little beam of light, and just like when we use it to encourage them onto weighing scales for their health checks, it proved hugely helpful in encouraging the penguins closer to the centre of the pool.” 

While the cameraman and penguin keepers envisaged needing a few takes to capture the birds on camera, no one guessed that digitally removing penguin excrement would be the bigger challenge.  

Shannon added: “We’d not anticipated how much the underwater camera would pick up. This year’s theme at London Zoo is Poo at the Zoo, but we didn’t anticipate a need to manually edit penguin poo out of beautiful shots of them swimming past the camera!  

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“We can’t wait for people to see this very special installation at The NOW Building”, said Shannon. 

Just a short waddle from the Northern Line, Londoners can marvel at Outernet London before hopping on a train to London Zoo to meet the penguins and 10,000 other animals. 

London Zoo’s Penguin Paradise installation runs at selected times throughout Friday 26 July - Thursday 1 August 2024 at Outernet’s The NOW Building, London.