Photogrammetry capture brings the Royal Opera House to life in VR.
Developed by makemepulse in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture and Château de Versailles, VersaillesVR – The Palace Is Yours, a free app available now on SteamVR-compatible headsets that allows you to tour a hyper-realistic recreation of France’s famous Palace of Versailles in VR.
Originally constructed at the behest of King Louis XIV and completed in May of 1682, the historic structure includes The King and Queen’s State Apartments, the Royal Opera House, the Hall of Mirrors, and the Royal Chapel among several other infamous locations scattered throughout its hallowed walls.
Using photogrammetry capture, every detail — even the smallest imperfections on the paintings — is brought to life in vivid detail. Every tapestry, piece of furniture, and painting is captured with stunning clarity, allowing you to explore every nook and cranny of the legendary structure as if you were actually there. Once you’ve toured the entirety of the area, you can then switch to night mode and explore the compound in the dark, with only chimney fires to light the way.
According to Google, you’ll be able to teleport across 24 individual rooms scattered across 36,000 meters of capture space. Some of these locations also feature interactable objects accompanied by informative descriptions.
“VersaillesVR The Palace is yours” offers you a unique visit of the palace built by Louis XIV,” states the official SteamVR page. “Alone, and free to discover the works in the most emblematic rooms, immerse yourself fully in the Palace of Versailles.”
“Tapestries, paintings, ceilings, sculptures and furniture, everything is within reach of your controller to grant you unlimited and privileged access to the treasures of Versailles.”
VersaillesVR – The Palace Is Yours is available now for free on HTC Vive/Vive Pro, Windows Mixed Reality, and Valve Index via SteamVR.
Similar to VersaillesVR, Il Divino: Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling in VR, which debuted earlier this year at SIGGRAPH 2019, offers users the chance to explore a life-like recreation of Michelangelo’s legendary Sistine Chapel. Built using 15-years worth of high-resolution scans and photographs, the ambitious immersive tour features 100 clickable locations and an hour-long audio tour guiding you through Michelangelo’s sprawling masterpiece.
In the past, we’ve touched upon technology’s importance in immortalizing historical landmarks, specifically photogrammetry and volumetric video capture. The ability to capture photorealistic recreations of real-world environments that users can physically walkthrough is a game-changer in terms of preservation.
Feature Image Credit: Google Arts & Culture
