Museum Of Illusions, Dubai

Welcome to our fascinating world of illusions. Thrilled yet bewildered you will enter a world that will blow your mind but also give you an opportunity to learn all sorts of things... Come and visit us! It is sure to be an amazing and unimaginable experience because whatever you see, especially here in the Museum of Illusions, is not what it appears to be.

Sprawled across an area of whopping 450 square meters, the Museum of Illusions Dubai presents over 80 interactive and impressive exhibits that offer the visitors a sensory and optical illusion. Through its exhibits, the museum offers both children and adults the chance to learn and have fun at the same time.

The Museum of Illusions Dubai is a part of an international chain of museums, which initially started in Croatia. The Museum of Illusions in Dubai is considered to be the largest among all such museums established in various parts of the world.

The exhibits of the museum are based on the fields of physics, psychology, geometry, and mathematics to produce thrilling illusions. There is a plaque card beside each exhibit, explaining to the visitors how the illusion processes, so that they have an interactive educational tour of the museum.

The visitors can tour through each room of the museum, experiencing the maximum out of each exhibit. The exhibits can be installations, photos, rooms, or tricks that are divided into three categories - ‘Master Illusions’, ‘Grand Illusions’, and ‘Optical Illusions’.

Some of the prime exhibits in the museum include the Hologram, Ambiguous Cylinder, Clone Table, Head on the Platter, Chair Illusion, Ames Room,  Anti-Gravity Room, and much more.

There is also a dedicated playroom in the museum, where both kids and adults are encouraged to solve puzzles, dilemma games, and brain teasers and learn through the process. There is also a small retail shop here, where smaller versions and imitations of the original exhibits of the museum are sold.

Enter a world of visual and sensory magic at Dubai’s Museum of Illusions, located at Al Seef along Dubai Creek. With 80 different exhibits, this is the biggest collection of optical illusions in the world. Perfect for entertaining the whole family, the museum is a great educational and eye-opening experience for all generations and age groups.

Visitors can interact, snap some photos and have a laugh at each mind-boggling attraction. There are many to discover, with several taking over Instagram thanks to their picture-perfect illusions. Jump straight into the fun with the Vortex Tunnel, which will have you think the ground is moving, or see yourself in a new light at the Mirror Room.

The exhibits make for some unreal Insta-worthy shots, so make sure to charge your phone beforehand. The museum is also available for special events and has a gift shop for you to take some tricks and illusions home with you.

The Museum of Illusions in Dubai gives you a sensory experience that defies logic. With over 80 interactive exhibits spread over 450 square metres, this museum offers adults and children an experience to enjoy the different illusions, exhibits, and brain teasers. The interesting Museum of Illusions is part of an international museum chain that initially began in Zagreb, Croatia in 2015. The Dubai museum is the largest one yet and has been curated by a team of architects and designers. They are based on fields like science, psychology, biology and even simple math, to create thrilling illusions.

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What Not to Miss at Museum of Illusions

1. Clone Table: 

The Clone Table happens to be a round table, which reflects back your reflection through two different mirrors placed at an angle of 60 degrees. It appears as if five different copies of you are sitting around the same table.

2. Stereogram: 

The Stereogram happens to be a 3D puzzle having a hidden object inside it. The viewers can only discover the hidden object, if they manage to view the stereogram from the right position.

3. Turntables: 

The Turntables is an optical illusion that is represented by two turntables. When turning, these turntables produce a hypnotic illusion. The turntables actually have patterns that give rise to hypnotic illusions when in motion.

4. Ambiguous Cylinder: 

Based on the direction of view, the illusion of the Ambiguous Cylinder generates a unique geometrical shape, basically a cylinder or a quadrant. Placed in front of a mirror, inside a box, the object can be viewed from its two opposite sides. The object can be rotated at an angle of 180 degrees by pulling the handle right or left.

5. Head on the Platter: 

If you have always fantasized about having someone’s head on your plate, it's time to get your wish fulfilled. Just like a magician’s trick, this illusion will get you to keep staring at the platter with a human head, while you wonder in awe as to where the rest of the body is hidden. This illusion will not hurt anybody, but be super fun for all.

6. Ames Room: 

The Ames Room is an illusion, wherein in one corner of the room there is a dwarf and in another there is a giant. In this incredibly mysterious room, you can see how a person walking back or forth either shrinks or grows in front of your eyes. Though the Ames Room appears like an ordinary room, yet is brilliantly distorted to let you experience a visual illusion.

7. Chair Illusion: 

Inspired by the work of psychologist Jean Beuchet, Chair Illusion plays with perspective and proportion. A picture from the correct angle gives the viewer an illusion of a tiny man standing next to an average-sized man.

8. Anti-Gravity Room: 

The incredible Anti-Gravity Room is a real brain basher, which will even startle the people, who believe in Physics. This illusion will make your eyes and brain make unconscious conclusions of whether it is a slanted or flat surface you are standing on.

You will be totally flabbergasted to witness water flowing uphill and balls rolling upwards. You can explain your experiences to others and make them believe you, until they themselves have experienced it.

9. Infinity Room: 

One of the most loved illusions is that of the Infinity Room. The Infinity Room has full height mirrors all around that create an illusion of infinite space.

10. The Vortex Tunnel: 

One of its kinds, the thrilling Vortex Tunnel will make you go gaga as you try hard to just take a step forward through this rotating cylinder.

11. Kaleidoscope: 

A twist to the original toy of Kaleidoscope, which can only be found in the Museum of Illusions. Instead of the original pearls and colourful papers, the quirky patterns are formed by the visitors.

12. Swap Noses: 

They say mirrors lie. See yourself in this unique mirror at the Museum of Illusions and find out for yourself, whether mirrors lie or just speak the truth. However, no matter what mirrors say, you will surely have a great fun, laughing at yourself

13. Tricky Stick: 

The Tricky Stick illusion is displayed by leveraging the sense of space. A stick attached to a horizontal plate rotates and finds a curved hole in its direction.

Although you will think that the stick won’t be able to pass through the curved hole, yet to prove your assumption wrong, the stick will easily pass through the hole. This is only due to the intelligent geometry leveraged to make this illusion work.

14. Rubin’s Vase: 

Though you can definitely keep flowers in this vase, yet that won’t bring out the full potential of it. The reason the extraordinary Rubin’s Vase is in the Museum of Illusions is that when you spin it, you get to discover its many hidden faces.

15. Hollow Face Illusion: 

Humans are so inquisitive to recognize faces that they have the tendency to fill up any hollow spaces that they are looking at, only to conclude whose face it is. The mind-boggling Hollow Face Illusion is based on this phenomenon.

About the Play Room At Museum

The Play Room at the Museum of Illusions has a number of intelligently crafted games that will put your mind to test and make you gain much knowledge in the process. The cleverly designed playroom calls for visitors of all age groups to enjoy playing, competing, and learning.

The Playroom offers a number of intelligent brain teasers, wooden puzzles, and Dilemma Games, all of which help in stimulating cognitive abilities. You can also challenge yourself with mathematical games, educational concepts, tricks, and impossible knots, which will make you smarter in the process.

Letting you learn through fun, the playroom at the Museum of Illusions serves as a fitness centre for your brain. The tricky and dilemma games also promise to help you enhance your decision-making skills in life.

Exhibits at Museum of Illusions 

Unlike other museums, the Museum of Illusions encourages interaction with the exhibits. Taking approximately an hour, you’ll be guided from room to room and encouraged to make the most of each exhibit. The exhibits are either photos, rooms, or installations that are categorised as ‘Master Illusions’, ‘Grand Illusions’, and ‘Optical Illusions’.

1. Mirage installation places you in the middle of the desert

2. Stereogram is a 3D puzzle with a hidden object inside, but you can only discover it if you find just the right position to view it.

3. Ambiguous Cylinder is either a quadrant or a cylinder based on how you’re looking at it and lets you rotate it around with a handle moving right or left.

4. Clone Table is a round table that reflects your reflection back through two mirrors angled at 60 degrees – making it look like there are five versions of you sitting around the same table!

5. Head on a Platter is similar to a magician’s trick, where you’ll stare at the platter and wonder where the rest of the body is being hidden.

6. Chair Illusion, inspired by psychologist Jean Beuchet’s work, exhibits plays with proportion and perspective, a picture from just the right angle creates the illusion of an extremely tiny person standing beside an average-sized person.

7. Ames Room distorts perception, making the person standing on the left look like a dwarf while the person standing on the right looks like a giant. The sizes shift as you move from side to side.

8. Anti-Gravity Room which, as the name suggests, makes you look like you’re floating in space or even floating upside down, depending on where you stand. In the Playroom, you’ll find a bunch of mind-boggling puzzles to be solved.

9. Dilemma Games: They include brain teasers for all ages that stimulate your cognitive abilities and decision-making abilities.

10. The Playroom Tour encourages young children to solve each puzzle and offer help at each step of the way. 

GENERAL INFORMATION AND TIMINGS FOR MUSEUM OF ILLUSIONS DUBAI

• The Museum of Illusions Dubai is located at the stunning Al Seef by Meraas. Look out for Shop NO. P3-17-1 to get to this incredible museum in Dubai

• The Museum of Illusions timings are 10 am – 10 pm from Sunday to Wednesday and 10 am to midnight from Thursday to Saturday

• Valet parking is available from AED 50 per hour, but there is also plenty of free parking as well

• There’s a retail section at the entrance of the museum as well, where you can pick up an optical illusion or educational games that will be a challenge for adults too! 

• The museum is a complete indoor experience, making it one of the best family-friendly activities in Dubai

• The Al Seef development has a plethora of restaurants and entertainment around to keep you busy after your visit to the Museum of Illusions, so it’s the perfect weekend outing with the family

Places to Visit near Museum of Illusions

1. SOL Sky Bar: 

As its name suggests, SOL Sky Bar is an open air rooftop, offering an extensive food and bar menu. The place offers a relaxed vibe and poolside dining opportunity, with soothing music playing in the backdrop. The bar also offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the Dubai skyline for you to soak in, as you sip your cocktail.

2. Al Seef Dubai Creek Carnival: 

The Al Seef Dubai Creek Carnival offers fun carnival rides and games, live music nights, and a bustling waterfront market. You can see many magicians and street performers entertaining the visitors with their impressive acts. You can see live bands performing brilliant street shows and filling the air with their enchanting music.

3. Dubai Souks: 

When in Dubai, it's a sin to not visit the colourful, bustling souks. The gold and spice souks of Dubai receive a huge influx of shoppaholics. You can get beautiful gold jewelry in Dubai at cheap rates at the Gold Souk. At the Spice Souk, you can purchase a wide range of spices including herbs, nuts, oils, and saffron.

4. Biking at Al Seef Dubai: 

Take a cycle on rent and enjoy biking at Al Seef, along the Dubai Creek. As you cycle through the Al Seef, you can feel the cool breeze and get to see the everyday life in Dubai. You will also come across a number of cafes and food outlets, where you can stop and enjoy some refreshments.

5. Dubai Creek: 

Also known as Khor Dubai, the picturesque natural Dubai Creek spans 14km from the Arabian Gulf and offers a relaxed walk in the cool breeze. The Dubai Creek is home to a good selection of restaurants, bars, attractions, and shopping centres, all of which offer tourists an enjoyable day out here.

The Dubai Frame, the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, the Dubai Creek Park, and the Dubai Museum are some of the top attractions along the Dubai Creek.

Museum of Illusions Ticket Price 

Adult: AED 80

Children (under 5 years): AED 60.

Valet Parking: AED 50 per

Free parking is available in the general Al Seef area outside

The museum has a ‘family ticket’ option that comprises 2 adult tickets and 2 children’s tickets for AED 250. 

There are group and birthday party options available for those looking to enjoy a field trip. A museum tour for 5 children is priced at AED 55 per child with free entry for two adults.

For a more exhaustive experience for 5 children, including a museum tour and food and drinks, tickets are AED 99 per child.

For a full party including an illusionist, instructions on how to solve games, and photographs of the children in the illusion rooms, it is priced at AED 750.

Tips to visit Museum of Illusions Dubai

• The museum allows entry in sessions per hour. It’s best to call ahead or check their website to understand the different sessions, or else you’ll end up waiting outside for quite a while before they can let you in

• The museum has a small retail section where they sell education games and small versions of their optical illusions. If you enjoyed the museum experience and want to take something back home, this is definitely the place to shop. You can buy things like educational toys, a T-shirt, or even a Museum of Illusions notebook from amongst their 90+ options.

• As the Museum of Illusions experience is completely indoors, it’s a great option for one of Dubai’s hotter days when going to the beach or being outside seems like a far-fetched idea.