A new virtual reality installation, 'Playing With Fire', featuring pianist Yuja Wang, has opened in London. The installation, which has previously been shown in Cannes, Paris, and Shanghai, will be available in London until the new year.
Audiences wear VR headsets to experience nine distinct virtual dreamworlds, with an avatar of Wang performing pieces from composers such as Ravel, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Liszt. The experience is described as immersing viewers in environments ranging from underwater scenes to fiery landscapes, with digitised versions of Wang playing a programmed Steinway Spirio piano.
The project is a collaboration between Wang, director Pierre-Alain Giraud, and artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir, produced by Vive Arts and Atlas V. The installation offers seats at the edge for those who might find the experience overwhelming or prone to motion sickness.