Experience a mind-bending virtual trip into Wonderland...
Curious Alice invites audiences to tumble down the rabbit hole and embark on a mind-bending trip into Wonderland through the playful dimension of virtual reality (VR). This new VR experience is the result of an innovative partnership between the V&A and HTC Vive Arts, produced by immersive games studio PRELOADED and featuring original artworks by Icelandic illustrator Kristjana S Williams. The experience presents a fully immersive, interactive re-imagining of Wonderland, celebrating one of the most iconic and inspiring stories of all time – the subject of the V&A's major 2021 exhibition Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser.
From rabbit holes to psychedelic mushrooms, flamingos to hedgehogs, Wonderland is the perfect world to explore in virtual reality. Curious Alice encourages audiences to reward their curiosity by navigating a fantastical landscape, interacting with the book's famous characters and completing a series of curious challenges. Race against the clock to capture the White Rabbit's missing glove; solve the Caterpillar's mind-bending riddles; defeat the Queen of Hearts in a curious game of croquet.
Curious Alice is now available to download through VIVEPORT and experience at home, at a cost of £4. Visitors to the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition will be able to experience a shorter version, A Curious Game of Croquet, via VR headsets within the gallery.
Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser reflects the global impact and legacy of the Alice books across creative disciplines. Since their creation the Alice books, with their mind-blowing ideas and concepts, have been a source of inspiration for new technologies from silent film to CGI. It has been an extraordinary adventure to work with HTC Vive Arts and Preloaded to take our exhibition into a playful new dimension of VR.
The VR experience has been produced by PRELOADED and the V&A, supported by HTC Vive Arts. It features the beautifully surreal Victorian-esque illustrations of Kristjana S Williams, a long-term collaborator with the V&A. Originally commissioned for the V&A's exhibition publication, Kristjana's eye-popping collaged landscapes make the perfect aesthetic to explore Wonderland in a new dimension.
Go behind the scenes and find out how we made Curious Alice:
