SONZAI at the V&A: The future of performance

Dancing with the masters

Experienced through Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 headset, SONZAI features a volumetrically captured performance by respected choreographer & performer Maëva Berthelot. 

In a stunning audiovisual experience, created by Prodigious, Berthelot’s photorealistic hologram dances in the V&A gallery space surrounded by masterpieces from Constable and Turner.

Capturing Maëva’s movements

Dimension worked in creative partnership with director Roland Lane, to create a hologram of dancer Maëva Berthelot, faithfully capturing her performance, which was filmed at our volumetric capture stage in London using Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture.

Fusing tech and art

SONZAI represents an interdisciplinary collaboration, combining volumetric capture, Unreal Engine, and the latest HoloLens 2 technology from Microsoft. The result blurs the lines between the physical and virtual worlds, offering a spectacular new way to engage with performance art.

"The possibilities for both cultural venues and the entertainment industry, in general, are fascinating as the real and virtual worlds begin to overlap. Using Unreal Engine for the design and VFX opened up so much rich, creative potential, and utilising Volumetric Capture to film the hologram, we really were able to test the limits of what is currently possible."

Roland Lane | Director, SONZAI

"SONZAI is a mixed reality experience that propels performance art into the future. It's a wonderful convergence of contemporary art and pioneering tech which shines a light on the rich and exciting possibilities for volumetric content and immersive storytelling within the arts. Dimension are delighted to have partnered with visionary director Roland Lane and the talented team at Prodigious to bring Maëva's stunning performance to life at the V&A."

Simon Windsor | Joint MD, Dimension