Florida Museum Alligator Collection

VR Review ★★☆☆☆‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
Quest Free Museums Natural History Comfortable Roomscale Stationary

a close-up of a crocodile resting on a rocky surface. The crocodile’s rough, textured skin with visible scales and spikes is prominent. Its eyes are open, and its teeth are partially visible, giving it a formidable appearance. In the foreground, there is a logo with the letters “FM” in white on a teal background, followed by the words “FLORIDA MUSEUM” in white capital letters.

Image attribution CC 2.0 CarmenQueasy

The Florida Museum of Natural History located in Gainesville is a respected century old institute known for their scientific research and educational programs in addition to their public exhibits. How this virtual reality alligator exhibit slipped through their quality control filters is beyond us.

The Florida Museum Alligator Collection app published on the Meta Quest App Lab is an under-developed and poorly presented introduction to the museum's efforts in alligator research. The experience contains two short medium to low resolution videos filmed at their Montbrook dig site and a couple of basic 360 degree photo tours. Each presentation is accompanied by flat monotone narration.

The image shows an individual at an excavation site with sandy terrain and visible earth layers. The person, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a light-colored shirt, has their face pixelated for privacy. Labels indicate a “Collection Lab” on a table with objects and an “Amateur Fossil Site” where people are digging.

The image shows an individual at an excavation site with sandy terrain and visible earth layers. The person, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a light-colored shirt, has their face pixelated for privacy. Labels indicate a “Collection Lab” on a table with objects and an “Amateur Fossil Site” where people are digging.

Video from the Montbrook dig site.

At each location there's an opportunity to pick up different alligator skull model. These models are well defined and inspection reveals a reasonable amount of detail, but there is no description or interpretation of any of these exhibits, and investigating four similar looking alligator skulls isn't much of a teaching moment.
Skip this experience entirely and instead check out the Florida Museum's well described 'Fossil Species of Florida' website or their YouTube video about the Montbrook dig site.

The image shows a 3D rendering of a robotic arm on a wooden table, assembling or examining a large, fragmented fossil of an aligator skull. Behind the table is a metallic gold curtain with silhouettes of two more skulls.

The image shows a 3D rendering of a robotic arm on a wooden table, assembling or examining a large, fragmented fossil of an aligator skull. Behind the table is a metallic gold curtain with silhouettes of two more skulls.

Hands on with one of four alligator skulls.

Summary:

Presentable 3D models of alligator skulls

Marginal content

Limited use of virtual reality

Poor presentation and menus

Supported Languages:
English

Product Links:

Free at Meta Quest Store
Get the app here and it will appear on your Quest headset.