Wevr, a creative technology company focused on creating virtual worlds and immersive spatial experiences, is celebrating the launch of Terracotta Warriors: Secrets of the First Emperor’s Mausoleum, the world’s first immersive virtual reality experience allowing visitors to explore the sealed chambers of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s legendary mausoleum.
Created through an unprecedented partnership between VIVE Arts and Wevr, this innovative experience transports visitors 2,200 years into the past to observe the night before the burial of China’s first emperor.
With millions projected to visit in the first year, the project exemplifies a new approach to cultural preservation and accessibility, providing experiences that cannot be recreated physically while safeguarding archaeological sites.
An authentic immersive adventure
The Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum Site Museum is the official guardian of one of the world’s most important archaeological sites, which houses over 8,000 unique terracotta warriors discovered in 1974.
The 40-minute VR experience is the result of a comprehensive partnership with archaeological experts to guarantee historical accuracy. Unlike typical museum visits, this immersive adventure allows visitors to virtually enter and explore sealed sections of the mausoleum that have remained untouched for over two thousand years.
“It’s magic when story, interactivity, and space come together to allow groups of people to navigate through history together,” says Celina Yeh, executive director of VIVE Arts. “This is the kind of experience that we aim to create with every VIVE Arts collaboration, leveraging immersive technology to preserve and animate cultural heritage for wide audiences.”
“This represents a huge leap forward in connecting audiences of all ages and cultures with an otherwise inaccessible wonder of the world,” adds Neville Spiteri, CEO and founder of Wevr. “We’re enabling access to one of humanity’s greatest archaeological treasures while maintaining the highest standards of historical authenticity.”
Enabling access to archaeological treasures
The experience is fully developed in Unreal Engine and is compatible with HTC VIVE Focus Vision headsets, made possible by HTC VIVE support. Every aspect of the virtual mausoleum has been carefully recreated, from the nine-story towers to the intricate bronze chariots with golden inlays, all rendered at a historically accurate scale based on detailed research supplied by the museum team.
The experience begins with visitors joining an AI archaeologist companion from the future to explore hidden tomb chambers, filled with ancient traps and defences. The second act shifts to a magical realm where archaeological artefacts animate, terracotta warriors march in formation, and visitors see the workshops where they were first made.
Wevr also recently worked on the Malta Pavilion Experience at Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan. Entitled “Catch the Wave,” the multi-sensory experience was developed in partnership with Malta Enterprise under the direction of Spiteri.
