For someone who can no longer travel to a concert hall, access to culture should not stop at the door of their residence. That is the starting point for Virtual Hall®: using immersion to bring a performance closer to people who are otherwise kept at a distance. It reflects Cybel’Art’s signature, We Humanize Digital., and its approach to AR and VR technologies.
A seat among the musicians
With a headset, a care-home resident can be transported to Geneva’s Victoria Hall, at the heart of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) during a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” Rather than watching a concert through a fixed screen, the viewer can look between several viewpoints and follow the musicians during a journey of around thirty minutes.
Workshops held in several care homes around Lake Geneva in 2026 reached more than 500 people. Cultural mediators support residents as they use the headsets, helping keep the experience a shared moment of discovery rather than a technical demonstration. Virtual Hall® credits bring together Cybel’Art, the Fondation de l’OSR and Real Illusions.
Capture designed for immersion
The concert is based on a recording of OSR musicians at Victoria Hall: six 360-degree cameras and 28 microphones were used, with bespoke software developed by Cybel’Art. In the headset, changing the direction of one’s gaze changes the viewpoint, while the sound follows that movement. The aim is not to generate artificial performers, but to offer another way to approach a performance that was actually played. That attention to the artists’ presence connects with Cybel’Art’s work around icologram®.
Complementing, not replacing, the concert
Virtual Hall® is not intended to replace a venue, an encounter with artists or cultural life beyond the care home. Instead, the experience may offer an entry point for people who are unable to attend, while leaving the distinct value of a public concert intact. It makes no promise about outcomes for isolation, health or memory; its proposition is cultural and sensory.
The project also points towards announced possibilities with Geneva University Hospitals and the Bibliothèque de la Cité, where public access to headsets has been discussed. This is an announced direction, separate from the care-home workshops already delivered in 2026. Through this work and other projects in its portfolio, Cybel’Art explores digital uses that broaden access without erasing the human experience.
Editorial adaptation of the article by Pierluigi Christophe Orunesu, originally published on Substack on 7 July 2026. Read the original article on Substack