The Museum of Illusions is the latest attraction to come to Manchester already having 50 locations worldwide – and I wanted to see if the experience was accessible to people with visual impairments similar to mine.
Upon entry you are greeted by a member of staff who guides you to the main reception and beginning of the experience. This would be a great time to inform staff of any accessibility issues you may have – and they were extremely helpful and understanding.
Before entering the exhibition, I had thought that it was something I couldn’t be able to experience the same way as others due to my sight – however, this wasn’t the case at all.
Though the experience did include some optical illusions which were quite difficult for me to understand the effects of, it also included many immersive rooms that don’t only rely on being able to see the details.
For example, one of the rooms that I enjoyed was the tunnel room where you walk through, and it feels like the tunnel is tilting – it was nice to see there were interactive elements which didn’t only rely on seeing detail.
Outside each room was a touch screen where you could play a video that would demonstrate what to do once you get inside. I found this quite useful as sometimes I can struggle to see the written text, so a visual demonstration was very useful and allowed me to have the full experience.
The museum included many photo opportunities with members of staff at each station to take the pictures for you to get the full effect of the rooms.
The museum also included a dark room with installations which relied on light. This was probably the section I struggled with the most as it can be quite hard for me to navigate places in the dark and it was also quite hard to read the text on the wall.
However, aside from this I think that the Museum of Illusions was an enjoyable experience despite my visual impairment and is a perfect attraction for all ages that will definitely leave your brain spinning.
Tickets start from £17.50 and children under four can enter free.
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