Virtual reality (VR) has great potential for making places such as museums and art galleries more accessible to a greater number of people. Such is the case with a new VR experience that recreates the ‘Mastry’ museum exhibition of celebrated artists Kerry James Marshall.
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has produced a recreation of its exhibition of Marshall’s work, which is being made available for free on the Samsung Gear VR. The VR experience allows Samsung Gear VR users to take a virtual walk through a complete recreation of the museum exhibition, which has used laser scanning and volumetric photography to make the experience and realistic and authentic as possible.
Users will be able to tour the exhibition, getting a closer look at any detail they wish, or stopping to read the descriptions of the various works. This is accompanied by a specially created narration that provides additional details and background on the artist and the artworks on display.
“I’ve never been described as a techie, but VR’s limitless potential piqued my interest. Applied to the art world, virtual reality has the power to capture exhibitions by prominent artists, preserving them in perpetuity and making them accessible not only to local art lovers, but everyone,” said Jacob Koo, CEO and founder of VRt Ventures. “Archiving great museum exhibitions, especially those as historically and culturally relevant as Kerry James Marshall’s, was of utmost importance to us because through VR, they can live forever. We were very fortunate to partner with such a progressive organization like MOCA, which is fully cognizant of the positive impact VR can have, especially in encouraging younger generations to appreciate the arts, and continues to support the merging of both disciplines.”
“Kerry James Marshall’s work completely changes the dialogue; it addresses a huge void in the art world and serves a severely underrepresented community within traditional Western expression,” said Philippe Vergne, Director of MOCA. “The beauty of ’Mastry’ is that it transcends all barriers, and is equally fascinating for seasoned art lovers as well as novices. Incorporating VRt Ventures’ immersive technology to provide a totally unique experience not only preserves exhibitions for future viewing and education, but also piques the public’s interest in the art, attracting more people to visit and view a museum’s permanent collection.”
MOCA: Kerry James Marshall VR experience can be downloaded for free on Samsung Gear VR from the Oculus Store.
VRFocus will continue to report on new and innovative VR content.
via Mint VR