The Metropolitan Museum of Art is moving closer to the metaverse in an attempt to turn museum visits into an impactful experience. This is an unprecedented experience, through an app called “Replica”, which allows visitors to The Met to digitise works of art and bring elements of the works digitally into the global immersive platform Roblox by means of augmented reality
Once inside the app, visitors can follow fun and accessible clues that appear on the digital map, leading to various galleries and works scattered around the Museum. Once the works have been digitised in real life, each piece is transformed into a collectible replica and can be transferred to the Roblox platform. These objects will appear in the user’s inventory for their avatar to use as items and accessories.
Users are guided on a treasure hunt-style map to works of art such as Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887), Henry II’s armour and the Perseus with Medusa’s Head in a prominent position.
Designed for children and young people, the app aims to present an immersive cultural and educational experience. It also marks The Met’s latest measure to attract visitors back, after seeing a big drop in attendance since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Met joins a small group of museums that are using Roblox to develop new educational approaches. In 2022, London’s National Gallery launched a game in which users can curate their own art collections, and Boston’s Museum of Science unveiled a space exploration game based on data collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) on Mars.
