Barco brings medieval history to life at the Yper Museum

At the Yper Museum in Belgium, visitors experience views of the medieval world with a modern twist. History comes to life through the creative use of technology—which is where Barco comes in. Our partner, Ocular, were called upon for a solution and they rose to the task with vigor.

‘Yper Museum came to us looking specifically for Barco solutions thanks to a previous installation at its neighbor, the In Flanders Fields Museum,’ says Simon Denys, Partner and COO of Ocular. ‘We delivered a unique projection-mapping experience that gives a real window into the past.’

The Yper Museum can be found at the Cloth Hall, Europe’s largest neo-Gothic civil complex. Built at the end of the 13th Century, it was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages and is UNESCO heritage listed. It’s the perfect location for the museum, which provides an interactive journey through eleven centuries of the history of Ypres. That journey now begins with a large-screen, high-resolution video introduction made possible by Barco’s F80-4K9 projector. 

Ocular completed a second installation at the Yper Museum with Barco’s F80-4K7 projector: projection mapping is used on a vertically mounted scale model of the city of Ypres—as it would have appeared in medieval times—to show a film about the city’s history. This permanent installation transports visitors 100s of years into the past in a fully immersive show. The journey through time happens every day with ease thanks to the Barco Medialon Showmaster show controller, which makes it easy to operate with the simple click of a button. 

The Yper Museum is thrilled and well on the way to reaching their goal of 35,000 visitors per year. Ocular delivered reliable solutions that are easy to use and perfectly integrate into the museum’s ecosystem—proving that the combination of Barco products and exceptional partners is impossible to beat.