Academy Museum of Motion Pictures - Cyberpunk: A Virtual Production Experience

Overview

Client
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Technology
Mixed Reality

Platform
Meta Quest 3

Industry
Entertainment

Release Date
2024

Introduction

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles invited us to collaborate on their landmark exhibition, Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema. Running through April 2026, the exhibit explores the cyberpunk genre's influence on film through a collection of production materials, costumes, props, and concept art from groundbreaking films like Blade Runner (1982), Tron (1982), and eXistenZ (1999).

The brief

We were tasked with creating a mixed reality (MR) pre-show experience in the Academy Museum's lobby that demonstrated the potential of virtual filmmaking.

The solution

We collaborated with industry leaders – Metastage, Alcon Entertainment, and Epic Games – to create Cyberpunk: A Virtual Production Experience, offering visitors a window into how emerging technologies can transform sci-fi film production.

Visitors don MR headsets and enter a virtual soundstage inspired by Blade Runner's (1982) iconic aesthetic. Users are guided through the experience by a volumetric capture of actor Rosa Salazar, star of Alita: Battle Angel (2019), as they see and hear how virtual production tools are shaping the future of cinema. Director Ridley Scott even makes a guest appearance, offering guidance on shot composition within the virtual world.

We set out to create an engaging and immersive virtual production experience that would captivate and inspire museum visitors. A primary challenge in developing this experience was ensuring high-quality visuals while adhering to the constraints of mobile performance. We addressed issues such as compatibility with volumetric capture and the optimization of heavy visual content for smooth playback. Ultimately, we achieved the right balance, delivering an experience that both looks impressive and performs seamlessly on the Meta Quest 3 headset.

“It teaches you about themes and motifs of Cyberpunk without you having to read a bunch of texts, but you are embedded in it.”

—Doris Berger, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs

The impact

The installation aligns seamlessly with the exhibition's broader themes of technology, resistance, and futuristic storytelling, offering audiences an inspiring glimpse into cinema’s transformative possibilities, where filmmakers can craft and manipulate digital worlds in real-time. Mixed reality serves as a dynamic tool for demonstrating how virtual production empowers creators to craft stories within boundless digital landscapes while retaining complete creative control.