From floating high above the clouds to standing in the shifting sands of an Egyptian desert, the Tutankhamun Birmingham Immersive Exhibition at the NEC blurs the line between history and virtual reality in spectacular fashion.
I am floating high in the sky – clouds drift by and I can’t see any ground below me.
It’s an eerie feeling.
Seconds later, I’m in a desert with sand blowing all around me – the mounds are getting higher and higher, I can feel my heart starting to beat faster with each blast.
I take a deep breath and remind myself that this isn’t a true reality – it’s a virtual one.
I’ve got a Meta Quest headset on and I’m in the final VR room at the Tutankhamun Birmingham Immersive Exhibition at the NEC.
Minutes earlier I had – seemingly – stepped inside King Tut’s 3,300 year-old tomb in the Valley of Kings in ancient Egypt.
With the help of cutting-edge technology, I was virtually retracing the footsteps of British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 when the extraordinary discovery of the Egyptian boy king’s burial place was first made.
It’s a story that has been told thousands and thousands of times since the Pharaoh’s mummy was found buried in the limestone cliffs amid a hoard of hundreds of treasures – and it’s as fascinating today as it was then.
And with futuristic tech creating a virtual reality around the discovery a whole new level of experience and understanding of the ancient world has been created.
I had to take care not to walk into any real life walls, which showed up as a red grid on my headset while I walked around the virtual reality space. Other visitors could be seen as floating avatars of Howard Carter’s head, which was quite amusing.
This was my second use of headsets at the Tutankhamun Immersive Exhibition, which has travelled around the world since it opened in Madrid in 2022 – this is the first time it’s come to Birmingham.
For my initial experience of VR at the NEC exhibition I was sat down on a chair, with headphones on and a headset, which transported me on a journey through King Tut’s afterlife.
My experience began in his coffin. I could see my/his body as I tilted my head. From there I flew through caverns and caves with spirits talking to me. I followed a bird as I flew through valleys and over rivers. I held on to my seat as a swift descent came across the wondrous landscape and I looked up high to look for a being behind the voice telling me about King Tut’s life.
This was my favourite part of the exhibition. I actually didn’t want to take this headset off when my seven-and-a-half-minute journey came to an end.
Before this I had experienced the 360 digital gallery where beautiful imagery flowed across the walls and floors, also, effectively, transporting me and my fellow viewers to a land far away in times gone by.
I almost flinched as creatures seemingly swam across the floor towards my seat and marvelled as gleaming treasures lit up the room. This experience saw giant golden doors of the tomb open magnificently, and rays beam across the space from King Tut’s death mask – which covered the young Pharoah’s mummified remains to ensure his soul could recognise his body in the afterlife. Visitors are also taken on a journey floating over a river in this room.
There are plenty of information boards around the exhibition explaining the fascinating history behind the boy King and his tomb as you make your way through the experience.
There are replicas of his death mask and his solid gold coffin and mummy, suspended above, exhibited too. Artefacts of the time are displayed in glass cabinets when you first begin the experience, with real life pieces from 1345 BCE featured.
There are also opportunities for photos with background images from the time of the discovery and among the ancient pyramids, which all add to the entertainment.
Tutankhamun was just 10 years old when he was made Pharaoh. It is believed he married a relative (his half sister). He had two children who both died before him. He died when he was just 19 year-old old.
The discovery of his 3,300 year-old remains in 1922, when Egypt was partially under British rule, made worldwide headlines.
He might not have been the most significant of ancient Egypt’s rulers during his lifetime, but Tutankhamun’s death is one of the modern world’s best known stories – and cutting-edge technology is ensuring the myth and the legend live on through this fascinating immersive experience.
