Since 2016, 400,000 virtual reality headsets have been sold around the world. This profusion of equipment has led to many uses of VR in particularly varied fields of intervention: training, education, property, aviation, industry, medical, etc. The field of culture is no exception and a large number of projects are now enriching the editorial line of a wide range of heritage and live performance venues along with their communication possibilities.

1. Scientific institutions: Experimenting with and bringing scientific and environmental experiences to life

From the 1980s, a large number of venues devoted to natural and technical sciences (museums, scientific, industrial and technical cultural centres, aquariums, zoos, etc.) have put into place dedicated multimedia spaces, fostering both the accessibility and the multi-disciplinary nature of the content on offer. These spaces showcase immersive and entertainment-based formats to bring them within closer reach of the visitors and the subjects that are explored. 

This is evidenced by the creation of planetariums in many of these venues, since the 1950s in fact (approximately 70 static and 70 mobile planetariums in France – see the excellent article by Toulouse’s Cité de l’espace (Space City) on this subject).  Initially constructed to reproduce the sky by opto-mechanics, these planetariums can now accommodate content with an image quality of up to 10,000 pixels. Such image quality has made it possible to convert VR 360° or 6DoF experiences into a dome format, as was the case for the VR film on the Arctic, Last Whispers, on the extinction of languages around the world or Ayahuasca Kosmik Journey, a hallucinatory journey into the heart of Amazonian spiritual practices. This example of planetariums and the adaptations of VR contents to the dome format demonstrates the desire for immersion and the creation of a story that prevail in experiential approaches to scientific cultural venues.

Another conclusive manifestation of these experiential approaches within scientific venues: the use of virtual reality incorporated on a permanent or temporary basis in exhibitions.  

For science museums, the use of virtual reality provides an alternative to planetariums for exploring space. The Infinite is one such example. This touring exhibition has been produced by the Quebec-based studio, Felix&Paul. Hosted at the PHI Centre during 2021, it is currently touring the whole of North America. Via the intermediary of virtual reality headsets, this exhibition aims to give its visitors the experience of being an astronaut. The journey commences with boarding via the putting-on of VR headsets, and continues aboard the International Space Station, before concluding with the return to Earth (reproduced through an audiovisual installation created by the Japanese contemporary artist Ryoji Ikeda). To achieve this experience, stereoscopic and 360° live action shots were taken over the course of two years by the station’s host astronauts. Other examples in a similar vein can be cited, such as the film in 360 video (or in cinematic VR) Dans la peau de Thomas Pesquet (In the Shoes of Thomas Pesquet) as well as the educational VR game available online, Solar System VR.  

For museums, zoos, aquariums, wildlife and nature parks, a large number of virtual reality works can also be considered. They transport visitors right up close to the wild animals, in their natural environments. This was the case, for example, with the VR documentary produced by Arte, 700 Sharks, which recounts the scientific quest of underwater photographer and biologist Laurent Ballesta to discover the sharks of the Pacific. 

This is also the case for another documentary-experience produced: The Wild Immersion. This series of 8 films and documentaries in 360° video enable the discovery of the diversity of terrestrial, aquatic and aerial ecosystems. The format is similar to that of a film and thus can be rolled out in a wide range of establishments:

• cinemas (e.g. Pathé Vill’Up for a price of 10€ per session from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., every 45 minutes).
• gardens and parks (e.g. Jardin d’acclimatation (Botanical Gardens of Paris), which has incorporated this offering into its admission ticket for a maximum of 100 people, with a winter palace decorated with plants for the occasion) ;
• shopping centres (e.g. La Toison d’Or shopping centre in Dijon for a single admission price of  €8, in a space decorated with wooden benches, posters…);
• museums and scientific, industrial and technical cultural centres (e.g. the Canadian Museum of Nature, Cap Sciences…);
• or digital centres (e.g. the “Arcadia Earth” rooms which offer multi-sensory journeys on a grand scale through underwater worlds, fantastical lands and inspiring art installations). 

Beyond the experience and the desire to attract new audiences by offering new attractions, this type of device can also provide a solution for educational challenges. At Amnéville Zoo, an immersive show, Extended Reality World, was renewed for 2022 with this same ambition. The Zoo’s president notes that “the challenge is to raise awareness among the general public. And if they can take away from this show that the planet is a marvellous place that must be preserved, so that we can carry on observing animals such as the ones that are projected in the show, we will already have a significant part of the battle behind us” (sources). 

The broad scope and diversity of immersive offerings available to scientific venues is immense. Flexible and adaptable, these devices can power the programming of exhibitions or dedicated spaces. They promote experiential approaches that are inherent to this type of venue. Equally, they also respond to the need for renewal and new attractions expected by family visitors, seasonal tourists or schoolchildren, as well as to educational and communication challenges. These practices are not just the preserve of scientific venues, but they are also becoming increasingly common in heritage sites (history, fine arts, architecture…).

2. Fine Arts and Heritage: improved reconstruction to raise awareness and renew our perspective on art and history

In the field of fine arts, heritage and archaeology, immersive technologies were initially used for the purpose of scientific research. From the 1970s, campaigns to digitise works and heritage sites in 2D and then in 3D were carried out for preservation, documentational or restoration purposes. 

For more than twenty years, 3D modelling has been used to produce digital topographical surveys. These models facilitate the bringing together of the many sources available on a work or art or a site, in order to verify historical or scientific hypotheses. This was the case for the scientific project, Rome Reborn, launched in 1996 (with new versions regularly released). The aim of this project was to completely model the city of Rome as it was in 320 AD. To achieve these types of reproductions, there are four criteria that appear to be essential: realism, accessibility of the information sources, uncertainty representation and the durability of the modelling (to find out more, see the fascinating article La modélisation 3D comme méthode de recherche (3D modelling as a research method) written by Mathieu Rocheleau). 

Over the last decade or so, a large number of public and private cultural venues have been using these scientific resources to adapt them for the general public. Companies that were initially specialised in heritage restoration have diversified into the creation of multimedia content. This is the case, for example, with the company, Art Graphique et Patrimoine, which effected a 3D digitisation campaign (laser and photogrammetry) for the purpose of restoring the Mont Saint-Michel Abbey. These images were then repurposed by Arte and Gédéon Programmes to produce, in partnership with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (National Monuments Centre of France), the documentary Le labyrinthe de l’archange (The Archangel’s Labyrinth. This reconstructs the different build phases of Mont Saint-Michel. More recently, images of the Notre-Dame Cathedral produced by Art Graphique et Patrimoine have powered various digital experiences. The results of scientific research or of restoration operations are thus repurposed into multiple formats: online visits, interactive devices, digital exhibitions, documentary films… and also virtual reality experiences. 

Various examples illustrate the interest of heritage sites in using virtual reality as a means of communication, whatever the historical period of the site. For example, virtual reality makes it possible to reproduce a past that no longer exists. This is the case at the Théâtre antique d’Orange (Roman Theatre of Orange) with the virtual tour that extends the visit, or with the VR Pompeii experience created for the exhibition held at the Grand Palais in 2020. 

Virtual reality can also facilitate unprecedented access to inaccessible places. This is what is offered at Chambord with an aerial exploration of the most famous château of François I (Chambord 360°) or the VR work The Dawn of Art which consists of a poetic recreation of the Chauvet cave (a replica of the cave was opened in 2015, the original being closed to the public). 

A virtual reality device for a heritage site can be seen as a complementary communication tool to understand a site, recreate a past that no longer exists, or to facilitate access to the inaccessible.  The virtual reality experience can also become an experience, or even a fully-fledged virtual exhibition for the visitor to wander around in. This is the case, for example, of The Horizon of Khufu currently hosted at the Arab World Institute. Beyond heritage sites in themselves, works of art and collections can also be the object of fresh experiences via the intermediary of virtual reality.

The experience 1,2,3…Bruegel! renews this perspective by augmenting, through the use of virtual reality, the Children’s Games painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The third dimension is used to bring the protagonists of the canvas to life in a gigantic virtual hide-and-seek, thus allowing the children to experiment with the use of perspective in painting. This project forms part of the digital productions of the Arte television channel, which has put together a collection of virtual reality productions to “cross through the canvas”: Arte Trips. 10 episodes have thus been devoted to the paintings of various painters: Bruegel, Manet, Böcklin, Caravage, Munch, Douanier Rousseau…

The first experience of this Franco-German programme is dedicated to The Water Lilies of Claude Monet. This 8-minute episode commences in one of the oval rooms of the Musée de l’Orangerie and features a beautiful mise-en-scène connected to the painter’s work around the theme of water lilies.  The experience, co-produced by the museum, has for that matter been presented in situ at the Musée de l’Orangerie between November 2018 and March 2019 in a 40m2 space to mark the centenary of the artist’s donation of the panels to France, and has attracted more than 12,000 visitors. 

Initially used for scientific purposes, new technologies have progressively been adapted to enhance both heritage sites and their collections. Virtual reality is one such tool. It can be seen as complementary, or as an experience or an exhibition in its own right. Turning to VR can thus facilitate the reproduction of a past  that no longer exists, provide access to the inaccessible, and renew perspectives on collections through a poetic or entertainment-based approach. The different VR formats are also a way of supplementing other means of cultural production, such as documentaries, and can be offered both within and beyond the venue’s walls. Such a wealth of approaches makes it possible to address a third cultural field that uses virtual reality: the world of film and live performance.

3. Live performance and the world of film: new artistic expressions revealed by immersion

For more than fifteen years, many initiatives have worked towards bringing together the arts and science via programmes or residencies dedicated to innovation.

Such is the case with the Atelier Arts Sciences workshop run by Grenoble’s French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). In partnership with the Hexagone theatre, artists and scientists work together to experiment with new creations in concert with the latest scientific research. These collaborations provide the opportunity to question society’s relationship with nature, knowledge, the body, energy, and so on. This type of collaboration enables different disciplines of live performance to harness recording techniques to consider representation formats that are increasingly hybrid between the physical and the digital. For the performance venues, these new practices, technologies and works offer the opportunity to develop staging that brings together physical movement with an enhanced aesthetic. This is the same ambition behind LAB7’s collaboration with a Quebec-based circus company, The 7 Fingers.

In this respect, several examples serve to illustrate the contribution of digital technology to live performance, such as VR_I  by the Gilles Jobin et Artanim company, Eve, la danse est un espace sans lieu (Eve, dances is an unplaceable place) produced by Compagnie Voix or le Bal de Paris (The Paris Ball), staged by choreographer and director, Bianca Li. This dance show leads the audience into the imaginary realm of animals, reminiscent of Lewis Carroll, with an unreal atmosphere in the style of Eyes Wide Shut. The performance by the dancers is supported by an accessible experience via virtual reality headsets, in order to, in the words of Bianca Li, “make the bodies present”. The care taken over the virtual creation, from the costumes and the masks (by Chanel), to the sets and the musical direction, all play their part in this immersion into a strange and magical world. 

A somewhat different logic has developed in the audiovisual sector, where new forms of storytelling have emerged in recent years around virtual and augmented reality. The film sector has equipped itself with a number of infrastructures in recent years: 

• festivals dedicated to new writing (Sundance New Frontier, Tribeca, Mostra de Venise VR, NewImages, Kaohsiung VR Film Festival…).
• more tailored public funding (e.g. the Digital Experiences Fund created in 2017, changed to Funds for Creative Immersion in 2022).
• Numerous distribution formats for the general public (TV programmes, streamed films, film screenings, private VR rooms). 

In the face of such creativity, many sites (VR rooms, theme parks, cultural venues) are increasingly seeking to incorporate digital offerings into their programming and spaces in collaboration with producers or creative studios from the film sector. 

The many examples cited here demonstrate the wealth of content that can be conceived to complement existing communication methods or to promote new formats of experiences and exhibitions.

Antoine ROLAND and Baudouin DUCHANG