We were commissioned by mk2 to concept, design, produce, and brand a first-of-its-kind VR center, a new cultural space in Paris at the Bibliothèque Francois Mitterand.

Converging our design approach and the latest interactive technology, a nonagonal structure intermixes metal, wood, fabric, and 3D prints to provide a bespoke immersive and collaborative virtual reality experience. The mk2 VR logo illustrates the meeting of the Virtual and the Real that gives birth to a third space. Symbolized by the use of the trapeze, it echoes the nonagonal floor pattern of the VR pods. The shape is modular and mutates with its content.

The innovative open-ended design, housed in a 14m-tall, 150m2 glass cube, centralises trapezoidal VR pods around a core technical structure, allowing users to freely interact in virtual reality unrestrained by cables or walls.

It was with a rather open approach that we started to work on mk2 VR. Since there was not yet a similar space that existed in France or in Europe dedicated to VR experiences and not to games, it was a chance to create a strong and recognizable identity. Our first insight was to create a space at the opposite sense of typical video game arcades or other tech-centric space, something more accessible and approachable to a larger demographic. Culture through technology needs to be accessible to everyone, as easy as going to the cinema, the museum or the library.

Our vision is that the VR experiences are created to play with personal emotions to bring people together, as a profound means of self-expression. Technology has a great power to link people together, so we wanted a space that could illustrate this aspect. Even if the spectator experiences VR alone (despite some experiences now bridging people together in the virtual world), we wanted to create an open, warm framework, sat between minimalism and elegance, where players and spectators could interact.

Because the experience is founded upon nascent technology, we needed to pass by a prototype phase to avoid a lot of complications (for example, interferences between different sensors or the parameters of VR UX…). In-depth studies of the structure (engineering) resulted in hiding all the technology components (cabling, workstations, lighting ...) and optimizing the consumer experience while amplifying the communication between the participants. We tried to create a multicultural space, accessible to anyone and everyone - a place where a wide set of people (age, experience) can meet, play, and wonder at the adventure that is virtual reality, together.