Real Virtuality

Summary

Real Virtuality is a multi-user immersive VR platform invented and developed by Artanim between 2015 and 2025. The technology powered the location-based experiences of Dreamscape Immersive and was later extended to experiential learning through Dreamscape Learn.

The platform combines a shared 3D environment experienced through VR headsets with a physical stage incorporating real objects and haptic elements. Users are tracked in real time and represented by full-body avatars whose movements reproduce their physical actions inside the virtual world.

Up to eight participants can move freely together, see and interact with one another, manipulate physical and virtual objects, and explore the same shared environment. By aligning the physical and digital spaces, Real Virtuality turns the user’s body into the interface between the real and virtual worlds.

The platform combines several key features:

• Wireless: freedom of movement across large physical spaces.
• Social: shared multi-user experiences within the same environment or across connected spaces.
• Accurate: high-precision tracking of users and physical objects.
• Real-time: low-latency interaction between physical movement and the virtual environment.
• Flexible: an SDK enabling content creators to develop experiences specifically for the platform.

Real Virtuality was used across entertainment, cultural and educational applications. Artanim also used the platform to create VR_I, an immersive choreographic work; Geneva 1850, a historical journey into 19th-century Geneva; Escalade: The Darkest Night, an immersive reconstruction of the events of December 1602; and Debug Mode, a free-flying multiplayer VR experience combining fast-paced gameplay, storytelling and humor.

Related Publications

Chagué S, Charbonnier C. Real Virtuality: A Multi-User Immersive Platform Connecting Real and Virtual Worlds, VRIC 2016 Virtual Reality International Conference – Laval Virtual, Laval, France, ACM New York, NY, USA, 1–3, March, 2016.
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Chagué S, Charbonnier C. Digital Cloning for an Increased Feeling of Presence in Collaborative Virtual Reality Environments, Proc. of 6th Int. Conf. on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, October, 2015.
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Charbonnier C, Trouche V. Real Virtuality: Perspectives Offered by the Combination of Virtual Reality Headsets and Motion Capture, White Paper, August, 2015.
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Awards and Recognition