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Royal Academy of Arts will showcase VR's influence on artists

Its 'From Life' exhibit will open this December.

This winter, the UK's Royal Academy of Arts will host an exhibit about making art from life, how it has been done throughout history and how technology like VR is influencing artists today. The From Life exhibit will include a look at life drawing, spanning from works done in the 18th century to contemporary pieces, as well as current artists who are using modern technology in their work.

A number of artists will create works for the exhibit using HTC Vive, MakeVR Pro and Google's Tilt Brush VR tool. From Life will show these artists' creative processes and how their artwork was made. Additionally, the Royal Academy will work with Factory 42 to develop VR experiences that focus on particular artists and how they work. A documentary -- Virtual Reality: Mystery of Creativity -- is also in the works and it will show how emerging technologies like VR are being used to create art.

"This is an experimental project that explores everything from artistic process to technological evolution and creative collaboration. In a sense, From Life embodies what an artist-run academy was, is and might become," the Royal Academy's artistic director, Tim Marlow, said in a statement.

"It is our mission to enable, cultivate, and preserve creation with virtual reality in the arts. The From Life exhibition is an incredible opportunity to enable some of the UK's leading artists to explore the creative potential of Vive's room-scale VR technology," Vive Arts and Culture Director Victoria Chang added. "We are proud to work with the RA to also bring these artists' works to a wider audience, to be experienced in homes around the world through being published on Viveport, our global VR app store."