Smithsonian American Art Museum “Beyond The Walls”
In Egypt’s legendary Valley of the Queens lies Queen Nefertari’s tomb, one of the modern world’s most detailed windows into ancient Egyptians’ journey towards the afterlife. Now, state-of-the-art technology has made it possible to digitally scan Nerfertari’s tomb with millimeter accuracy. For the first time ever, step inside the fabled tomb and immerse yourself in the story of its art, history, construction, and mythology through interactive elements.
This virtual museum includes three unique pieces for users to engage with, leading to a broader, interactive experience of the original art pieces. Users are able to move freely around the museum’s east wing from inside their headsets, and view a dozen paintings, four works of sculpture, and one video art installation in high fidelity. Upon approaching Adams Memorial, users are transported out of the museum and into a 3D volumetric recreation in Rock Creek Park Cemetery, can experience a 360-degree, 6K video of an actual aurora borealis, and are greeted by a volumetric hologram of the artist Alex Prager explaining the inspiration for the 2013 film, Face in the Crowd.
Go Beyond the Walls, a virtual reality experience that puts users directly in the museum’s galleries of the Smithsonian American Art Museum! Beyond the Walls blends photoreal imagery of artworks from SAAM’s collection with augmented elements to let users interact with and learn about the museum’s collection using a headset and handheld controller.
