Eclipso Adding Two More VR Tours Through Time

Two more tours will be added to virtual reality entertainment company Eclipso’s Hell’s Kitchen flagship location in December. The two new tours—Life Chronicles and Tonight with the Impressionists Paris 1874—are in addition to Horizon of Khufu, a trek through the Great Pyramid of Giza that opened with Eclipso’s New York City debut in October.

Eclipso is a virtual reality center that offers cultural entertainment not unlike cinema. Eclipso began operating in France, moving to the USA in 2024 with Horizon of Khufu. This virtual tour through one of the world’s seven wonders has been experienced by audiences in London, Paris, and Atlanta, seeing over 600,000 visitors throughout its locations.

At the moment, Eclipso only offers the Horizon of Khufu tour, but visitors will be able to choose between the different experiences once Life Chronicles (a look at the origins of life on Earth) and Tonight with the Impressionists Paris 1874 are added. For 45 minutes, visitors aged eight and up don a VR headset and walk through the 11,000 square feet of interactive space. In the Horizon of Khufu tour, guests navigate the Pharaoh’s tomb, attend mummification ceremonies, and witness King Khufu’s final rites. Once visitors have acclimated to the digitally constructed space around them, they will find themselves in Cairo, just outside of the Great Pyramid.

“Launching in New York City represents a pivotal moment for us as we continue to push the boundaries of immersive entertainment,” said Antoine Lieutaud, CEO of Eclipso.

“Our goal is to blend cutting-edge technology with rich storytelling to create a transformative experience for every visitor.”

The technology was developed by Excurio (originally a brand of Emissive, its name having changed in 2024), which was founded by Emmanuel Guerriero and Fabien Barati in 2005. Emissive is known for the award-winning virtual reality experiences The Enemy (2015) and Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass (2019).

“Our platform allows for real-time interaction and exploration, creating a dynamic experience that evolves with the movements of each participant,” said Fabien Barati, CEO of Excurio. “What sets Horizon of Khufu apart is its ability to engage large groups in a shared, yet personalized, virtual reality adventure.”

For the Horizon of Khufu tour, Excurio consulted with renowned Egyptologist Dr. Peter Der Manuelian of Harvard University’s Giza Archives Project to develop the content for Horizon of Khufu, attempting to make the tour through the Great Pyramid as accurate as possible.

“It’s one of the most iconic places in the world; people are going to know if something’s a little off,” said Sebastian, the working manager at Eclipso when Straus toured the facility.

“We actually get a lot of people coming...[who] have already been to Egypt, and they’re like, ‘Wow, this is really great!’ Or there’s people that are like, ‘I really want to go to Egypt, this is a lot more affordable than a flight to Cairo,’ so it’s really exciting.”