ROCK ART
British Museum
BRIEF
As part of the African Rock Art Image project (britishmuseum.org/africanrockart) at the British Museum, Soluis Heritage were tasked to create a free virtual reality (VR) mobile application, Rock Art VR, which transports users to world-famous rock art site at Game Pass Shelter in South Africa.
Approach
The app takes users on a journey through Maloti-Drakensberg National Park, home of the renowned Game Pass Shelter rock art site, flying over mountain ranges and exploring pathways leading to the sites. Using digital imagery, the app uses VR technology optimised for cardboard headsets to allow people to explore the rock art and its surroundings via an immersive 360 tour with embedded audio from the project curator.
Steve Colmer, Director at Soluis Heritage said:
“The Digital Activity Day was great to be involved with and I got to see first-hand the reactions to the content we had created. Especially the kids that took to it straight away and were really immersed as they journeyed up the mountain and nervously peered over the edge of the trail down to the valley below. The team at the British Museum and colleagues at the African Conservation Trust in South Africa were a joy to work with, and we were able to use their endless knowledge of both the site and the artwork to help shape the experience and guide us every step of the way”
Outcome
Created as part of a project looking at innovative and exciting ways to connect people with Africas rock art, the app was first shown at the Digital Activity Day event in the Great Court in the British Museum. This event gave families the opportunity to try the VR experience, whilst also handling 3D prints and contributing to a paper rock art wall.
The Rock Art VR application can be downloaded here on the Apple store, or Google Play store.
Desktop version:- http://vr.africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/