Step back into 19th century Paris with VR

Although I like to remember past efforts combine VR elements with virtual environmentsI thought that the plague had put an end to those desires. If I wanted VR in 2024, I thought I’d have to buy a headset, and it would be for myself at home or in the office – not something I shared with a group of people at the mall.

But a new immersive experience proved me wrong.

It was made with French origins A journey in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay and other initiatives, Eclipse,”Tonight With The Impressionists, Paris 1874” commemorates the 150th anniversary of the first exhibition of Impressionist art by taking visitors back to Paris in the 1900s – first into the streets of the city, then into the exhibition, then to other important places from Impressionist history.

After opening in France and Atlanta, “Tonight With The Impressionists” opened Friday at the Eclipso Center in New York. (As far as I understand, Eclipso offers a place for virtual reality experiences, while Excurio created a VR documentary.) Like other Excurio experiences, this one uses VR to bring history and culture to life, as well as to provide a showcase of the company’s technology.

At a press event earlier in the week, a friend and I joined a long line of people wearing VR headsets before entering a large white room — 11,000 square feet of space that can be transformed into rooms, museums, aquariums, and more.

In contrast The Void (my main point about this type of event), Excurio and Eclipso don’t try to create a beautiful environment or provide tools that match the experience. This means that the Eclipso Center can have multiple experiences at once, but it can also lead to awkward moments – like when the universe descends when the floor is actually flat, or when a Parisian sofa is blocked by a floating red X. , reminds us that when we sit down, we sit down.

Even though it was difficult, we felt like we were in Paris, looking at the masterpieces and talking to the people who made them. In perhaps the happiest moment, we shared a balcony with Claude Monet while he was painting “Thoughts, Sunrise,” with his work expanding beyond the screen to fill the horizon.

Excurio points out that the experience does not require you to wear large VR headsets, and that it allows many participants at the same time – in fact, the company says that it recently broke the record for more than 100 participants at the same time, moving freely in the same space. It controls the crowd by providing a real story that guides you through space; and early times, there should be no risk of meeting another person.

In our practice, our crowd was so dense that we often saw holy figures showing the proximity of the real person. We never encountered them, but it added to the traffic stress of the event. And in the end, the 45 minutes of “Tonight With The Impressionists” was a little long for new VR relatives like us – enough time to experience eye strain and equipment discomfort.

However, I have never experienced this. It’s worth a look for anyone interested in Impressionist art, and more in VR design and education.