It puts you in the shoes of Dr. Jose Rizal at the time of his death

With the advent of affordable and more realistic VR experiences today, it’s only natural that museums and historians start tapping into the medium to tell better and richer stories of the past to a new generation. That’s the aim of the Ayala Museum’s Virtual Reality Experience of Philippine History, and they’ve naturally selected the martyrdom of our country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, as the jumping off point for the new initiative.

Created by the folks behind I AM Cardboard, the VR experience drops you in three distinct perspectives during Rizal’s martyrdom in Luneta – as a bystander, one of the soldiers in the firing squad and Dr. Jose Rizal himself, to see the pivotal moment in our history in a new way.

The project was helmed by famed German filmmaker Marco Biemann, and had renowned historian Prof. Ambeth Ocampo as the main historical consultant. The project was shot using state of the art 360 degree cameras, and the content is displayed in the Ayala Museum using VR headsets provided by I AM Cardboard paired with iPhone 7’s.

“Yes, Rizal’s story has been told many times and in all sorts of styles. Our approach using 360 VR video gives the viewer the opportunity to experience the last moments of Rizal’s life first hand by getting immersed in our rendition of history itself,” Biemann says.

We tried it out ourselves and it’s really a unique take on the events that transpired on Dec. 30, 1896. And this is only the beginning – several other VR experiences relating to pivotal, historical events are planned in the future.

If you want to see and experience it yourself, you can head on over to the Diorama exhibition located at the 2F gallery in the Ayala Museum, located at Makati corner De La Rosa street, Greenbelt Complex, Makati City.