A 'Virtual Twin' brings the Palaeolithic art of the Lascaux Cave closer

Dassault Systèmes, the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine and DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine have launched the 'Virtual Twin' experience of the Lascaux Cave, that recreates the conditions of immersion in the galleries as experienced by conservators and scientists when they entered them.

The Multi-Personal Virtual Twin at Scale 1/1 Allows you to reproduce an exploration and immersion experience, as well as discovering new points of view, being as close as possible to the masterpieces of the Upper Palaeolithic that are in the Lascaux Cave. This allows the public to enjoy masterpieces painted a few years ago. 20.000 years.

Discovered in September 1940, The cave is so famous in the world both for the exceptional quality of its parietal art and for the fragility and complexity of its conservation.

Multi-person virtual reality at scale 1/1 allows you to reproduce a unique experience of exploration and immersion, as well as discovering new points of view, being as close as possible to the masterpieces of the Upper Palaeolithic.

Dassault Systèmes, the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine (the Museum of Monuments of France) and the Direction régionale des Affaires Culturelles de Nouvelle-Aquitaine (the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs of the Nouvelle Aquitaine region in France, o DRAC Nouvelle Aquitaine) have launched a new virtual reality experience at scale 1/1. With great realism, the virtual twin of the Lascaux cave recreates the diving conditions in the galleries of the original cave, as experienced by heritage conservators and scientists allowed to enter them.

Discovered in September 1940 and classified as a historical monument three months later, the Lascaux cave is as famous in the world for the quality of its parietal art as for the fragility and complexity of its conservation.

Permanently closed to the public from 1963, the Lascaux cave has been the subject of several digitization campaigns carried out by the DRAC Nouvelle Aquitaine as part of its missions to preserve and conserve this masterpiece, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

Since the time allowed inside the cave, that is still in danger, It's limited (less than 200 hours per year for the teams that work there), The creation of its virtual twin offers new approaches that are difficult to apply in the real world. Multi-person virtual reality at scale 1/1 allows you to reproduce a unique experience of exploration and immersion, as well as discovering new points of view, being as close as possible to the Upper Palaeolithic masterpieces painted 20.000 years.

Lascaux Cave 1/1

The Lascaux Cave 1/1, The Virtual Twin, is designed with new tools researched and developed by Dassault Systèmes with Exaltemps, the research and innovation laboratory of the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine. This new software aims to facilitate the creation of life-size virtual reality experiences for several people by users without specific technical knowledge.

For Dassault Systèmes, The challenge was to imagine and develop immersive, collaborative tools that were even easier to use. The only skill required is to use your hands intuitively, No need for a remote control, what we do in the real world to stage a life-size narrative that we can physically enter. These creative tools open up a new way of understanding cultural sites in the world of education, research and, of course, further”, explains Mehdi Tayoubi, Vice President of Innovation, Dassault Systèmes.

By integrating the raw data from DRAC Nouvelle Aquitaine's digitalisation campaigns into these tools, the three partners were able to collaborate virtually in 3D and design several immersive tour paths.

“We have very accurate 3D scan data of the cave that we are used to seeing on our screens, But being able to immerse ourselves in this virtual twin changes this perspective. The time we spent in the interior of Lascaux, that is still in danger, It's very limited. For the first time I can teleport there with all my equipment, where we can work and test research hypotheses in real time, even in the hardest-to-reach areas”, says Muriel Mauriac, Conservator of the Lascaux Cave.

As well as the conservation team that has access to the original cave, visitors immersed in the Virtual Twin will be able to move through the terminal passage at the end of the axial diverticulum or even walk through the narrow feline chamber, that has never been presented to the public.

“This collaboration with Exaltemps and Dassault Systèmes brings the collection of the Gallery of Traces of the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine to the twenty-first century. From plaster to virtual reality, fits the vision of Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc, that initiated the use of life-size molds of our heritage as a means of teaching, investigate, Remember and inform”, adds Isabelle Marquette, Curator of the Plaster Gallery of the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine.

Virtual Experience

In 2019, the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine and Dassault Systèmes inaugurated a research and innovation space, Exaltemps, dedicated to life-size multi-person virtual reality.

Behind the ScanPyramids VR, the Lascaux cave 1/1, The virtual twin is the latest experiment developed within this space open to the public.

Groups of up to six people, equipped with backpacks and virtual reality headsets and accompanied by a tour guide, will have the opportunity to explore the 235 meters of galleries that make up this prehistoric 'Sistine Chapel'. Users will be able to move freely through the space and, through their avatars, interact with each other.

Organized visits have taken place every hour since last April and in accordance with the health measures in force (only by reservation through the Cité de l'architecture website & du patrimoine ). After each visit, UV decontamination machine is used, developed for Exaltemps, to disinfect VR equipment and kill all germs and viruses. This machine ensures a maximum level of safety for users.