Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass reveals the latest scientific research on da Vinci’s artistic innovation and his painting techniques and processes through exceptional visualization in virtual reality, bringing them to life.
From the product description
About the Experience
In this mini-review, we discuss the Louvre’s VR production about the famous painting: Mona Lisa (La Jaconde in French). It’s a fun way to learn more about da Vinci, what we know about its origins, and the fame the painting enjoys in our contemporary time.
Given its prominent position in the art history world (not to mention its’ pop culture status), this isn’t the first VR production including it. You can also visit it in the fun Art Plunge app, where you can explore famous paintings extrapolated out to full 3D scenes.
In this experience, you can learn more about the work of art, the process of painting it, the model who sat for it (what we know), and da Vinci himself.
Graphics and Sound
A VR experience about art needs to look good. Not only high-quality static 2D/3D scans of the artwork, but also the settings and additional scenes used to tell the story. Here, we aren’t disappointed. We can view the brush strokes and see the painting up-close, but the retelling of the actual act of painting also consists of detailed models and careful lighting.
We want to feel like we’re stepping into the past, travelling through time even. It would be easy to throw some 3D models together into the right arrangement to make a point, but this title works hard to transport you to the action. You can look around and feel like you’re there.
Information Content
As a half-documentary, half-interactive experience, there’s a good amount of information to educate you. It’s always great when a title teaches you in a way that it feels natural. It’s the promise of the Magic School Bus in virtual reality!
Navigation and Interactivity
Navigation is mostly linear, and interactivity (in terms of manipulating items) is minor. You have some freedom to look around though and see the information presented from multiple views.
Updates and Support
n/a
Summary
This is an easy recommendation! It’s available on Steam and Viveport for free, and it’s a topic everyone knows at least a little about. VR is a great medium for exploring the background and ancillary details of this masterpiece and it works well.
Pros
- Great content
- High-quality graphics
- Good narration and ambient sound
Cons
- Could be a little more interactive
- Only supports PC VR (won’t run directly on Meta Quest and other standalone)
