Burial Chamber of Tutankhamun in VR
A Virtual Reality facsimil app of Tutankhamun´s Burial Chamber / Factum Foundation & The Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Egypt
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Top video: Headset screen recording of our first demo app of Tutankhamun´s burial chamber in VR.
Working at Factum has deepened my appreciation for the significance of data and information residing on the surfaces of objects. The meticulous recording of surface details through non-contact techniques at high resolutions allows for exploration in areas where the naked eye falls short.
Following the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic, I embarked on a learning journey that led me to explore software commonly used in the video game industry. This software enables real-time interaction, eliminating the need for time-consuming rendering processes and the best of all, it can be viewed and shared across the world creating an executable file from the project you can install and play on your computer. Or you can download as an app on your VR headset.
My first venture into the realm of virtual reality was centered around Tutankhamun. I undertook the task of translating the extensive data recorded by Factum Foundation in 2009, which included the use of a white light scanner and composite color photography to document the burial chamber, composed of the 4 walls and ceiling, the sacrocphagus as well as the lid. With the application of my 3D sculpting skills, I merged and optimized this data for seamless integration.
This project has resulted in various outcomes. We’ve developed an educational app version, intended for sharing in schools and libraries across Cairo. Additionally, we showcased and shared the immersive Tutankhamun VR experience at Masterpiece 2022 with a wide audience.
VR Team:
Irene Gaumé: 3d artist and Technical Director
Manuel Puchau Amores: unreal engine generalist
Amanda Garcia ordoñez: VR Graphic Design
Beatriz Sabater Serna: programming
Pedro Miro: white light scanning
Teresa Casado: 2d color registering
Gabriel Scarpa: composite color photography
Osama Dawod: project coordinator for the educational app version in Cairo.
Adam Lowe: Factum Arte and factum Foundation director
Avoiding Oblivion / Masterpiece 2022
London, UK 2022
Curated by Adam Lowe and Charlotte Skene Catling / designed by Charlotte Skene Catling de la Peña.
A stark white space with the exact dimensions of Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus chamber becomes the space that enables a virtual experience of the tomb at high-resolution while simultaneously enabling visitors to look through the eyes of others on the TV screen.
Image slide where you can see how the 3d data and the color have been optimised to run real time in Unreal Engine. To learn more about scanning the tomb you can jump to Factum Foundation website here.
Left → 3d data of the surface scanned with a white light scanner
Right → Composite color photography data