Step into Brighton's Cinematic Past with New VR Experience

If you have spent any time around the Hove Museum of Creativity lately, you might have noticed a bit of a buzz about their latest addition. It is a virtual reality experience called Double Act, created by Brighton graduate Jess Starns and creative technologist Tom Ward. This project is part of a larger three-year programme called Days of Wonder, which has been investigating the city’s deep connection to the birth of British cinema. When you put on the headset, you are dropped into a digital version of Brighton and Hove at the turn of the 20th century. It is a 20-minute narrated journey that takes you through the earliest days of filmmaking, back when our local area was a global hub for media innovation. You get to see recreations of old workspaces and pleasure gardens, all while being guided by the voices of the people who were actually there at the start.

The focus of the experience is on two specific pioneers: George Albert Smith and Laura Eugenia Bayley. While Smith is often the one mentioned in history books for his inventions, this project makes a point of reclaiming Bayley’s role. She was a massive star of the era with more screen roles than almost any other actress, but she was also a fundamental filmmaker and creative partner in her own right. Together, they worked out of a studio in St Ann’s Well Gardens, which was only the second film studio ever built in the UK. The VR lets you step into a digital recreation of that "film factory" and see how they experimented with things we take for granted now, like close-ups and narrative editing. They were even behind the development of Kinemacolor, the first successful process for capturing natural colour on film, which eventually had its first commercial screening in the UK.

One of the interesting parts of the VR is seeing how they handled landmark films like The Kiss in the Tunnel from 1899. This short is famous for being one of the first times anyone used editing to tell a sequential story. You also get a look at Mary Jane’s Mishap, a dark comedy from 1903 where Bayley’s performance really shows off her comic timing. The project is not just about the VR headset, though. There is a companion exhibition running alongside it called Play Back Forward. It is a hands-on space with archival films and interactive works that give more context to the city's film legacy. It even includes "magic lantern" stories created by local children from the literacy charity Little Green Pig, which appear within the VR world itself. It is a way of connecting the city’s past innovators with the people living here today.

If you are thinking of heading down, the VR sessions are happening at the Hove Museum of Creativity on specific dates this February. It is available on Monday the 16th, and then again from Thursday the 19th through to Sunday the 22nd. While the experience is free, you do need to book a slot online because the places are limited. Just a heads-up for anyone with younger family members: the VR is for ages 13 and up, mostly because of the way the headsets fit and physical comfort guidelines. If you cannot get a slot for the VR, the Play Back Forward exhibition is also free and stays open until April 12, 2026, so there is plenty of time to check out the physical displays and archival footage. It is a good opportunity to see the streets we walk every day through a completely different lens.