From March 29 to July 19, 2026, the Sala Ipogea of the Museo Eremitani in Padua hosts a world premiere of avirtual experience dedicated to Escher’s impossible worlds, on the occasion of the exhibition M.C. Escher. All Masterpieces ongoing in the same city at the Centro Culturale Altinate | San Gaetano.
For the first time, the public will be able to virtually enter the artist’s creative universe, living an experience that goes beyond the observation of the works. In fact, thanks to the use of visors and virtual reality technology, it will be possible to enter M.C.Escher ’s most famous works and freely explore spaces characterized by paradoxical architecture, infinite staircases and environments that defy the rules of perception. The experience thus takes on a dynamic character: one moves through the space, changes point of view and interacts with the elements present.
An innovative element of the project is the use of LBVR (Location-Based Virtual Reality) technology, which enables full integration between real movement and the virtual environment. The body moves in the physical space and each gesture is reproduced in real time in the digital world, allowing the visitor to walk, climb, descend and cross different levels naturally.
Each participant is represented by a customizable avatar, which facilitates mutual recognition and interaction among visitors within the shared experience. Environments also react to users’ presence: surfaces that change shape, objects that activate, and passages that reveal themselves all contribute to an ever-changing context. The result is an immersive, almost dreamlike universe in which the perception of time and space is completely redefined. Throughout the journey, specialized guides will accompany visitors, offering support and insights.
The project is realized by Maurits in collaboration with M.C. Escher Heritage and is produced and organized by Arthemisia.
The journey begins in an introductory space inspired by Hand with Reflecting Sphere, where visitors receive initial directions and select their avatar. From here one enters a series of three-dimensional environments that transform famous Escher works into spaces to explore.
One initially passes through an environment suspended in the universe, populated by geometric solids such as dodecahedrons and tetrahedrons, evoking the imagery of the work Stars. It then continues into the impossible architectures of Relativity, where the laws of gravity seem to lose consistency.
The journey continues in a space inspired by the Alhambra in Granada, a fundamental place for Escher’s artistic research, fascinated by the infinite decorative possibilities of tessellations. The experience finally concludes inside Cascata, where perspective, mathematics and imagination come together in one of art’s most celebrated visual paradoxes.
The installation is based on virtual reality (VR), a technology that allows people to explore three-dimensional digital environments while perceiving them as real. Wearing a visor, visitors can observe the space in 360 degrees and move freely within the scenarios. Because it is an LBVR-type experience, physical movement corresponds directly to virtual movement: by walking in the real space, one also moves forward in the digital environment. At the beginning of the journey, each participant chooses a customizable avatar, which is useful for orientation and interaction with others.
During exploration it is possible to interact with different elements: objects and structures react to contact and movement, transforming or activating, making the experience even more immersive. Through the integration of visors, motion tracking, and interactive environments, virtual reality offers an immersive experience that combines discovery, exploration, and perception of space in a completely new way.
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| In Padua, you can enter Escher's impossible worlds with virtual reality |
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