Moby Dick Experience: hunting the White Whale in virtual reality at Palazzo Ducale

Climbing aboard the Pequod, breathing in the life of the crew and coming face to face with the White Whale: Moby Dick Experience brings Herman Melville's masterpiece into virtual reality, at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa.

The experience lasts around fifteen minutes and recreates the novel's key moments, from daily life on board to the clash between Captain Ahab and Moby Dick. The characters are brought to life by highly detailed Metahumans, motion-capture animations driven by artificial intelligence and lip-sync in the dialogue, while the ambisonic sound design wraps whoever wears the headset in the roar of the ocean.

"The challenge was to take research and development to a level capable of turning the characters into narrative instruments, able to interact with one another and with their environment," explains Marco Pizzoni, CEO of WAY Experience.

Inside the exhibition at Palazzo Ducale

The experience accompanies the exhibition Moby Dick. La Balena. Storia di un mito dall'antichità all'arte contemporanea, created in collaboration with TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary. A journey that tells the myth of the whale across the centuries, through video installations, sculptures, harpoons, paintings, photographs and engravings, all the way to the Cetacean Sanctuary in the Ligurian Sea.

When and where

The exhibition can be visited at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa from 12 October 2025 to 15 February 2026. All the details of the experience are on the page dedicated to Moby Dick Experience.