Marco Polo VR Experience – Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale – Portfolio

I 700 anni di Marco Polo: la Via della Seta e il suo viaggio a 360°

WAY Originals Art & Culture Performing Arts History & Heritage LBE (Location-Based Experience)Virtual Reality (3DoF)

2024 | Beijing, Chengdu +2

Marco Polo VR Experience è stato il principale evento immersivo all’interno della grande mostra in Cina dedicata alle celebrazioni per i 700 anni dalla morte dell’esploratore. È un itinerario culturale e cinematografico che utilizza la Realtà Virtuale (VR) per ricostruire le leggendarie tappe del “Milione”. Il progetto offre una visione d’insieme che collega la Venezia del XIII secolo alla maestosa corte di Kublai Khan, proponendo un percorso narrativo unitario tra letteratura di viaggio e tecnologia. Il racconto attraversa i momenti chiave dell’esplorazione di Marco Polo, permettendo di visitare ambienti e mercati dell’epoca ricostruiti con estrema accuratezza filologica, per analizzare l’incontro tra la cultura occidentale e quella orientale in un format di altissimo respiro internazionale.

Credits

WAY Experience in collaboration with Treccani, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Embassy in Beijing and the Italian Cultural Institute

The challenge

To translate a medieval literary account and the history of exploration into a three-dimensional visual experience, going beyond the limits of traditional non-fiction. The project aims to bring to life the fascination of trade routes and distant civilisations, ensuring deep documentary rigour in the philological reconstruction of period settings.

The format

A multimedia experience in Location-Based Experience (LBE) format, lasting 18:45 minutes in Virtual Reality. The use of immersive technology turns the historical account into a dynamic educational tool, placing audiences at the centre of historical settings and Asian marketplaces reconstructed to a high visual standard.

The impact

Authority and philological rigour: An outstanding cultural model developed in collaboration with the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani and institutional partners, certifying the scientific accuracy of the story.
International reach and projection: availability in five languages and distribution in prestigious global museums and film festivals turns the project into a transnational cultural bridge.
Cross-generational outreach: the combination of authored storytelling and digital engagement gives schools, tourists and enthusiasts the ideal tools to understand the complexity of the first great exchanges between East and West.