Revisiting 19th century Paris in VR

While I have fond memories of past attempts to combine VR content with real-world environments, I thought the pandemic had killed those ambitions. If I wanted VR in 2024, I thought I’d have to buy a headset, and it would be something I’d do alone at home or in the office – not something I’d share with a crowd in a converted retail space.

But a new immersion experience proved me wrong.

Created by the French startup Excurio in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay and another startup, Eclipso, “Tonight With The Impressionists, Paris 1874” commemorates the 150th anniversary of the first exhibition of Impressionist art by taking visitors back to 19th century Paris – starting with the streets of the city , then into the exhibition itself, and to other important places from Impressionist history.

After launches in France and Atlanta, “Tonight With The Impressionists” opened Friday at the Eclipso Center in New York. (As I understand it, Eclipso provides a place for virtual reality experiences, while Excurio creates VR content.) Like other Excurio experiences, this one uses VR to make history and culture more accessible, while also providing a showcase for the company’s technology.

At a press event earlier in the week, my colleagues and I joined a long line of people wearing VR headsets before entering the white mansion — 11,000 immaculate square feet that would be converted into apartments, galleries, lakeside retreats, and more.

Unlike The Void (my main reference point for this type of experience), Excurio and Eclipso don’t try to create a virtual environment or provide props that complement the visual experience. That means the Eclipso Center can host multiple experiences at once, but it can also lead to awkward moments — like when the virtual surface slopes up while the real floor remains flat, or when a Parisian sofa is blocked by a floating red X. , which reminds us that if we try to sit down, we will end up on the floor.

Without difficulty, it felt like we were in Paris, looking at old paintings and talking to their creators. In perhaps the most dramatic moment, we shared a balcony with Claude Monet as he painted “Impression, Sunrise,” and his work stretched beyond the canvas to fill the horizon.

Excurio highlights the fact that its experience does not require you to wear large VR backpacks, only headsets, and that it allows many participants at the same time – in fact, the company says that it recently broke the record of supporting more than 100 simultaneous, free-roaming participants in the same area. It controls those crowds by providing a specific story that leads to space; during the initial rough times, there shouldn’t be much risk of bumping into someone else.

In fact, our crowd was so dense that we often saw white silhouettes showing the proximity of a real person. We didn’t encounter them, but they added the pressure of traffic jams to the experience. And finally, the 45 minutes of “Tonight With The Impressionists” felt a little long for VR newbies like us — enough time to experience eye strain and mechanical discomfort.

However, I have never faced anything like it. It’s worth checking out for anyone interested in Impressionist art, even more so in the creative and educational possibilities of VR.