Intrepid Band of WCIT Time-travellers witnesses the Last Days of Pompeii

A group of WCIT Members and their guests visited “The Last Days of Pompeii, the Immersive Experience” event at Excel London Docklands.

The Exhibition transported us back to 79 AD, blending dramatic storytelling with cutting-edge technology to bring the doomed Roman city to life. 

Spanning over 2,000 square metres the event delivered a multisensory journey through multiple rooms, showcasing reconstructed Roman architecture, vivid frescoes, artefacts and replicas.

We encountered meticulously recreated streets and domestic scenes, giving a textured sense of Pompeii’s vibrant daily life before catastrophe struck. The tour then transitioned to a moving display of ash-cast citizens, underscored by immersive projections that capture both the vitality and sudden destruction of the city.

The exhibition’s highlights included a 360-degree digital experience, and a seated VR adventure where visitors entered the coliseum and witnessed a gladiator fight – with a very realistic intervention by a tiger! We explored the legendary Villa of Mysteries, walking around it in the “metaverse”, having been warned not to sit on those realistic marble seats because they were virtual, not actual! The AI photobooth that transformed guests into ancient patricians also raised a few laughs. All of this accompanied by an evocative original score which could be downloaded to a visitor’s mobile phone.

We followed the exhibition with a splendid buffet at the So! Bar and Restaurant, which was sufficiently generous to allow us to share it – appropriately – with a group of software engineers attending the Tech show at Excel.

A good time was had by all.

Freeman Peter Bayley