Virtual reality brings Martin Luther King Jr. speech to life in new exhibit

Black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, where he gave his 'I Have A Dream' speech.   (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
Black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., where he gave his 'I Have A Dream' speech. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

A groundbreaking new virtual reality experience is bringing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to life.

The civil rights icon will appear in hologram form for the first time as he reads his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in an immersive exhibit opening Feb. 28 at Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History and running through November. The March marks the first time King’s estate has granted development rights to feature his likeness in digital performance.

Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis narrates the experience, which she and her husband, actor-producer Julius Tennon, executive-produced through their JuVee Productions.

Time Studios partnered with the Oscar-nominated immersive media studio RYOT and V.A.L.I.S. studio to create the VR experience giving visitors to DuSable, known as the first independent African-American history museum in the United States, an unprecedented look at the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, with King’s speech taking center stage. The March will be featured at the museum through November.

Running about 10 minutes long, the exhibit comprises three acts — “The March,” “The National Mall” and “The Speech” — which will plunge visitors into the sights and sounds of that August day in Washington, D.C. State-of-the-art technology including photogrammetry, motion capture and 3-D animation from Digital Domain capture the action of that seminal moment in American history like never before.

RYOT and Yahoo are both owned by Verizon Media.

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