The Met Launches New Immersive Virtual Tour Where You Can ‘Borrow’ Its Art
Screenshot via The Met Unframed
It’s natural to believe that when it comes to visiting the world’s greatest landmarks, nothing is as good as seeing the real deal. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, however, isn’t letting that happen. In fact, while the establishment has already reopened amid the COVID-19 crisis, it is simultaneously running a virtual tour that lets art enthusiasts of the world explore its collections in a fun and enriching way that a physical experience does not provide.
The Met Unframed service, an experience backed by telecommunications giant Verizon, is an extensive, hyperrealistic virtual reconstruction of the Met and its galleries. It extends The Met’s ability to make art accessible to all, enabling people from all over the world to enjoy its possessions wherever they are.
All guests will start from a reimagination of the Great Hall, where they can decide if they should proceed to the digitally-rendered versions of the ‘Power’, ‘Home’, ‘Nature’, or ‘Journey’ sections. To “walk” around, they can either swipe through their smartphones or move their devices, though gyroscope mode will have to be enabled for the latter.
In total, the experience boasts “more than a dozen” galleries and almost 50 artworks from The Met collection, the museum explained in a press release. These include pieces by Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, and living artists, as well as antique artifacts.
Here’s where The Met Unframed stands out from the usual visits. Apart from coming with audio-tour explanations and additional details, the artworks incorporate mini-games, like riddles and trivia questions, that spur you to take a closer look at them.
If you win enough games, you can take the masterpieces home, via augmented reality, to brighten up your space. Each artwork can be “borrowed” for up to 15 minutes.
The Met Unframed, a mobile-only experience, can be navigated for free on themetunframed.com through mid-February.
[via Open Culture and Hyperallergic, cover image via The Met Unframed]
Also check out these recent news
