Technology meets family fun at Nambour’s Hologram Zoo

A new kind of visitor attraction is quietly building momentum in Nambour, with the town’s Hologram Zoo blending cutting-edge technology with old-fashioned family entertainment.

Claire Fawbert, who operates the Currie Street venue through her company Emersion XP, told the Nambour Chamber of Commerce International Women’s Day breakfast the business was born from a desire to combine her technology background with family experiences.

“We’ve only been open a year now,” Ms Fawbert said.

“I’m a woman who wears many hats. First I am a mother and wife.”

After years working in digital transformation, Ms Fawbert said she wanted to step away from the corporate world and into small business.

“We’d been looking for a business to open for a while, really interested in getting out of corporate and into the small business world,” she said.

The concept she discovered was Hologram Zoo – an immersive experience where visitors wear holographic glasses and walk through themed environments featuring animals, dinosaurs and space.

“You come in and put on a pair of holographic glasses and then you walk through an enclosure and tunnels and a skyroof,” she said.

Visitors can explore digital environments representing Africa, Asia or the Arctic, while dinosaur encounters have quickly become the most popular attraction. “Every map you do the content changes. Dinosaurs is our most popular because the dinosaurs jump out at you and T-rex comes out of the screen,” she said.

Despite the advanced technology, Ms Fawbert said the experience is fundamentally about human connection.

“While it’s a technology business, it’s very much about human connection,” she said. “Grandparents bring their young kids. There’s a lot of jump scares. Everyone’s laughing.”

Ms Fawbert said being part of the Nambour business community had been one of the most rewarding aspects of launching the venture.

“We love being part of the Nambour community,” she said. “And hopefully in a few years’ time I’ll have four hologram zoos.”

For now, she said, the focus is simply growing the Nambour attraction and welcoming more locals through the doors.

“If you haven’t come down to the zoo, please come across and see us,” she said.

• Find them at: 81–87 Currie Street, Nambour. Book now: www.hologramzoosunshinecoast.com.au