VR Experience
AGO Bristol 1775: From Warship to Prison Hulk
AGO Bristol 1775
- 2023
- Released
- Art Gallery of Ontario
A multiplayer museum VR experience that allows visitors to explore the Art Gallery of Ontario's 1775 model of the Bristol in an immersive digital environment. Users can move through the ship freely or follow a guided narrative focused on its transformation from British warship to prison hulk during the Napoleonic era. The project combined curatorial research, advanced 3D scanning workflows, and Unreal Engine 5 rendering to create a high-fidelity model for virtual cultural exhibition.
- Released as a free museum VR experience for Windows PC
- Positioned publicly as a collaboration between VR developers and a museum, with both guided and free-roam modes and support for VR or keyboard-and-mouse desktop access
- Helped deliver a cultural heritage project using Unreal Engine 5 rendering for high-detail museum visualization and interpretation
Challenge
Translate a fragile, high-detail 18th-century cultural artifact — the AGO's 1775 model of the Bristol — into a shared, real-time virtual environment that preserved scholarly accuracy while remaining accessible to general museum visitors in both VR and desktop modes.
Solution
Combined curatorial research, photogrammetry, and computed tomography scanning workflows with Unreal Engine 5 rendering (Nanite, Lumen) to deliver a high-fidelity multiplayer experience supporting both guided narrative tours and free exploration for groups of up to six.
Outcome
Released as a free museum VR experience for Windows PC, offering both VR and keyboard-and-mouse desktop access, and positioned publicly as a collaboration between VR developers and a museum showcasing real-time cultural heritage interpretation at exhibition fidelity.
Gallery
Recognition
Press
Exhibitions
- Art Gallery of Ontario · Toronto, Canada · 2023
- VRTO 2024 (Virtual Reality Toronto Conference) · Toronto, Canada · 2024
Contributions
- Led development of the interactive Unreal-based museum experience
- Supported multiplayer group exploration and guided exhibit flow for solo and shared visits of up to six attendees
- Helped translate high-resolution scanned cultural artifacts into a real-time immersive environment using photogrammetry and computed tomography source material
- Contributed to a museum-scale digital exhibition pipeline using Unreal Engine 5 technologies including Nanite and Lumen
Collaborators
- Gillian McIntyre — Interpretive Planner, Art Gallery of Ontario (project lead)
- Priam Givord — Project Director / VR Interactive Designer, Priam Givord Studio Inc.
- Priam Givord Studio Inc.
- Art Gallery of Ontario
Subject of the experience is the AGO's 1775 model of the Bristol (originally a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line, designed 1768, completed 1775); the historical narrative focuses on its transformation from British warship to prison hulk holding captured enemy soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815). Visitors explore three decks — Gun Deck, Officer's Deck, and Fo'c'sle / Top Deck. The application has been described publicly as the first multiplayer VR museum visit system supporting a live museum guide, accommodating up to six remote visitors. Project launched late 2023 and was presented at VRTO 2024.
