As soon as you enter Dubai’s 2018 Arab Media Forum, you find yourself inside a bright, white futuristic tunnel with four windows, all detailing different demographics, and statistics of the planet we have just entered – Mars.

Just as you leave behind the tunnel lined with “emergency oxygen tanks,” you find yourself in a large hall lined with red rocks and craters, with smooth, minimal stages and sets that cater to the theme of this year’s forum, the leap to the future.

From installations that mimic the four seasons of Earth’s weather patterns to a nitro-bar complete with odd colored juice boosters in bulb, the forum transports you from Dubai’s desert sun to Mars’ magnetic atmosphere.

“Every year it’s always the same theme and style,” Social Media Presenter at Radio Al-An Nagham Fakhoury said.

“There could be a more personal touch or a different theme that I feel they could have taken,” she added.

After bumping into the robot with a screen fumbling around the hall, you’d find a stand you’d think came straight out of a sci-fi film, only to step inside and witness the Arab “astronaut” guide you through an interactive wall that’s activated by a simple touch of the finger highlighting the future of the UAE.

Hidden in the corner, behind the enormous central screen, lies a rocky, red crater filled to the brim with colored plastic balls – there only to promote the fun attitude the forum has been going for. The crater is even surrounded by installed palm trees that have a futuristic blue “tire swing” hanging from it.

Talks and panels surround the future of Arab media were broadcasted on edgy screens that hung from the high ceilings, all tackling topics such as the changing media landscape, AI and the future of press, and visuals: changing the world and shaping the future.