London’s Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum is launching a VR experience in the latest example of the beleaguered attractions industry using AV tech to target audiences at home.
With footfall diminished due to Covid-19’s impact on travel, tourism and requirements for social distancing, museums and galleries have been one of the hardest hit sectors across the globe.
However, in many cases they’ve responded creatively and Curious Alice, the V&A’s latest venture sees the museum partner with HTC Vive to take visitors on “a mind-bending trip into Wonderland”.
The VR experience features original artworks by Icelandic illustrator Kristjana S Williams and was produced by creative agency Preloaded and the V&A. This immersive element supports the V&A's major 2021 exhibition Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser.
On October 22, the V&A will host an immersive virtual reality preview event to offer a sneak peak of the exhibition and launch the Curious Alice VR experience through the Engage VR platform.
Kate Bailey, exhibition curator, will guide the VR tour while participants join, and interact in the VR world, as avatars.
On the V&A website Bailey said: “Since their creation the Alice books, with their mind-blowing ideas and concepts, have been a source of inspiration for new technologies from silent film to CGI. It has been an extraordinary adventure to work with HTC Vive Arts and Preloaded to take our exhibition into a playful new dimension of VR.”