Pompeii, the VR experience

The UNESCO World Heritage City of Pompeii, frozen in time since destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, boasts the most extraordinary artefacts from ancient Rome and is visited by nearly four million visitors every year. Recent archaeological initiatives have continued to reveal surprising discoveries. To share these discoveries with the public, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais in Paris presents a spectacular immersive digital exhibition, Pompeii, which allows the visitors to experience the dynamic life in the city before its destruction, the tragic disaster of the eruption, as well as the astounding archeological effort since the 18th century.

An important component of this exhibition is a VR experience that allows the visitors to explore a Roman house in the ancient Pompeii as if they are an archaeologist. A journey through both time and space, the experience begins amongst the current ruins, and then brings the visitors back 2000 years to witness all the rich architectural and artistic details representative of the vibrant Roman city before its fatal destruction.

Created with advanced technologies including laser mapping, infra-red thermography, high-definition photogrammetry, and masterful 3D architectural and environmental reconstruction, this VR journey offers an emotional and memorable experience meaningful to science education, cultural preservation, as well as artistic imagination. 

Grand Palais’s Pompeii, the VR experience is created in partnership with GEDEON Programmes, Aristeas, UBISOFT, and VIVE Arts.