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Enter the World of Tony's Creepy Crawly Zoo
Creepy Crawly Zoo 2.0™ — The Groundbreaking Virtual Reality Experience!
When the pandemic hit, it had a devastating impact on everyone, especially those who depended on live audiences for their livelihoods. Antonio Gustin, the visionary director of the Gateway Science Project, was not immune. His nonprofit — which used insects in a thrilling live show called Tony’s Creepy Crawly Zoo to ignite scientific curiosity in children — was brought to its knees. Despite years of work toward a permanent home for his mission, Gustin’s dream of a natural science park themed around insects and reptiles was on the brink of collapse.
In 2019, Gustin appeared to be on the brink of success. He had joined forces with his close friend Dan Capps, who possessed one of the most impressive insect collections in the world. He had finally garnered multiple sponsors, and his live show was scheduled for the entire year. To top it off, he released a complementary science activity book, “My Science Diary” — the same day the stay-at-home order was issued.
“From the very beginning, I knew this would never work. I did one virtual show over Zoom and it was just awful. My live show was never about me, or my animals, or any educational information. It was about the experience. ‘Virtual’ was like standing in a corner and mumbling to the wall.”
— Antonio Gustin
Gustin couldn’t escape the problem of generating an “experience” during the pandemic. That thought led him back to a concept he had considered years prior — virtual reality. “I was introduced to VR by an old high school friend. When I took the goggles off, I looked at him and said, ‘Do they make a macro 360 camera?’ I immediately knew what I was going to do with it.”
The problem: a macro 360 camera did not exist. Gustin devoted two years to intense research and development. In early 2022 he succeeded — a camera compact enough to fit inside a terrarium, capturing his tarantulas, scorpions, and other creatures in stunning 8K.
“When I saw the first video using my phone and an $8 pair of Google Cardboard goggles, I was stunned. I was less than 2 inches tall and inside the terrarium with one of my tarantulas. I got goosebumps.”
With Brett Waterhouse of the Grove Gallery, the three spent a week 3D-scanning Dan Capps’ collection — some specimens dating to 1872 — to preserve it in virtual reality. The science park Gustin had dreamed of would be built, with a twist: in virtual reality.
