'David Bowie Is' exhibition to be transformed into virtual reality experience
The ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition is being reimagined as a virtual reality (VR) experience that fans can enjoy from the comfort of their own home.
Having opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in March 2013, the exhibition displaying history, artefacts and information about the life and career of Bowie has called in at 11 further museums in 10 countries around the globe.
With the last pitstop of the 'David Bowie Is’ retrospective wrapping up at Brooklyn Museum on Sunday, it’s been announced that a digital recreation of the exhibition is coming to smartphone mobile devices this autumn as an augmented reality experience.
Following this, in spring 2019 a redesigned ‘David Bowie Is’ will arrive on all major virtual reality platforms.
The experience is a collaboration between Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., the David Bowie Archive, Planeta, and the V&A.
Giving fans an insight of what to expect, a statement on David Bowie’s official website reads: “The digital experience, a first of its kind, will deliver an astonishing, but deftly connected sequence of audio-visual spaces through which the work and artefacts of Bowie’s life can be experienced.
“3D scans will preserve and present his fabulous costumes and treasured objects in meticulous detail. The experience may even allow a spectator to virtually step into one of Bowie’s outfits and see themselves in it.”
It adds: “Both the visual richness of this show and the visionary nature of Bowie and his art, makes this a particularly ideal candidate for a VR/AR adaptation.
“It will be an entirely new experience of ‘David Bowie is,’ one that enhances this iconic show with elements that only VR and AR can provide, yet remains firmly grounded in the work of this extraordinary artist.”
The experience will be available in nine different languages and the David Bowie Archive will be donating a share of the profits to the V&A and the Brooklyn Museum.
Since its inception five-and-a-half years ago, ‘David Bowie Is’ has drawn in over 2million visitors.
> The David Bowie is tour has ended, but the show must go on! This fall, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., in collaboration with the DB Archive, Planeta, and V&A, will release a digital recreation of the exhibition on smartphones as a virtual experience https://t.co/6DOCQcslBJ pic.twitter.com/F9wiJoZrCo > > — David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) July 16, 2018