Visitors journey through space and time on unique tour

A new exhibition in Shanghai takes visitors on a journey to ancient Egypt, where they can explore inside the Great Pyramid, visit spaces previously closed to the public and attend the funeral of the Pharaoh Khufu.

The Horizon of Khufu: A Journey in Ancient Egypt opened on Saturday at HKRI Taikoo Hui in downtown Shanghai and will run for four months. Jointly presented by LWA Brand Management and HKRI Taikoo Hui, the exhibition is an immersive expedition created by French company Excurio, an award-winning developer of virtual and augmented reality solutions.

The exhibition in Shanghai marks the first overseas stop for the international tour of the project, following domestic runs in Paris and Lyon last year.

The Horizon of Khufu has been conceived in partnership with Peter Der Manuelian, professor of Egyptology at Harvard University and director of the Giza Project. He and his team supervised the making of this experience, ensuring its scientific accuracy through the application of architectural and historical data in the reproduction of the site and reenactment of ancient practices.

According to Fabien Barati, CEO and cofounder of Excurio, "Our ambition is to create a new standard with this immersive experience.

"We would like to develop this type of immersive experience for cultural heritage sites in China as well," Barati says.

Virtual experiences can't replace real visits, but very often the historical sites are not fully accessible for a number of reasons, such as preservation, renovation, safety or simply being too difficult to reach. Such immersive shows will be a complementary experience, and a new way to discover and understand cultural heritage, he says.

Supplied with a connected backpack and headset supported by cutting-edge technology provided by HTC Vive, within seconds, participants are transported to the foot of the biggest pyramid in Egypt as the sun sets. They are greeted by Mona, who is their virtual guide throughout the 45-minute tour.

Stepping into the pyramid, visitors wander through galleries and spaces, many of which are off-limits to the public at the original site, before reaching its peak, where a breathtaking view of modern Cairo and the Giza Plateau unfolds before their eyes. As they climb to the summit of the pyramid, they grasp the intricacies of its use in ancient times, while learning about the latest archaeological discoveries at the site. Finally, the virtual traveler embarks on a journey down the Nile after climbing aboard the Pharaoh's solar barque — a ship designed to carry the resurrected king across the skies — bearing witness to the funerary rites of King Khufu more than 3,000 years ago.

It is the first tourist experience in the world that was created through surveying, scanning and modeling the Great Pyramid and its surroundings, according to Barati.

The experience also provides the illusion of traveling freely, thanks to virtual reality equipment enabling visitors to traverse a space of 500 square meters into the heart of one of the most significant archaeological sites of human civilization.