France's First Immersive AURA Experience Project

AURA Invalides marks a new stage in Moment Factory’s history as a multidisciplinary studio dedicated to crafting innovative multimedia experiences through bold creativity and high-tech prowess. This immersive 50-minute experience combines video mapping, lighting, special effects, orchestral music, and sound design to celebrate the architectural and historical heritage of one of Paris’s most iconic monuments: Dôme des Invalides.

AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
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The project was initiated in 2019 by cultural operator Cultival, which was then seeking innovative cultural and tourism offerings designed to create new sustainable attractions in France. Captivated by the AURA experience at Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal, and Moment Factory’s peerless creativity and ability to meet exacting standards, Cultival asked the multimedia studio to create the very first AURA experience in France. To achieve this project, Cultival also turned to its longstanding partner, Musée de l’Armée – Hôtel national des Invalides.

Designed by Moment Factory and produced by Cultival, in partnership with Musée de l’Armée, the AURA Invalides experience is the result of a long process of research and collaboration, undertaken by passionate teams specializing in heritage enhancement and the digital arts. Moment Factory’s multi-disciplinary and global talent worked for more than two years to create a multimedia and immersive experience that offers a perfect complement to the majestic scale of Dôme des Invalides.

AURA Invalides - Chapelle
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement I
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
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AURA Invalides, a Monumental and Dazzling Experience

As night falls, Dôme des Invalides comes alive with the combined magic of light, orchestral music, and video- mapping, revealing its stately beauty and rich heritage. Over a 50-minute span, visitors are invited to partake in a sensory nighttime exploration. Guided by light, they wander through Dôme des Invalides and its six chapels, where the previously unseen gradually comes into view. As visitors pursue their exploration, they become attuned to their surroundings and the marvellous aura on display. The immersive AURA experience consists of three acts, each portraying a distinct facet of this particular landmark: its construction, the memories it harbours, and its power to inspire one and all. AURA Invalides is designed to stimulate the imagination of audiences of all ages. As a result, visitors are swept away by moments of pure wonder, fostering a deep and unique connection between public and place – and among the visitors themselves.

AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
Photo credit: Moment Factory

AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
Photo credit: Moment Factory

AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
Photo credit: Moment Factory

AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
Photo credit: Moment Factory

High-tech Prowess Showcasing an Exceptional Heritage Site

Dôme des Invalides provides one of the most ambitious projection surfaces that Moment Factory has ever had the privilege to work with. The technical challenge was enormous. At more than 90 metres high, the building is topped by a dome whose smallest diameter is 30 metres. In all, more than 45 million pixels were mapped onto a 3,500-square-metre surface.

One of the building’s distinctive features is a reverberation time that spans nearly 10 seconds, a result of its architectural configuration. To ensure that AURA Invalides visitors can fully experience the orchestral score, the team employed a sound-spatializing technique that involves localizing sound with utmost precision. As a result, visitors can clearly perceive where the sound emanates from. The experience combines sound and image to create a 360-degree immersion effect, making visitors feel as if they are fully immersed in the show.

Another major challenge was to blend technology seamlessly into this space so as to create a truly magical effect. In fact, since Dôme des Invalides is a protected historic monument, the projection equipment had to be installed on the existing structure without altering the site’s architectural integrity.

To that end, the technical team produced a drone-enabled architectural scan, which it then transcribed into virtual reality, in the form of a 3D model, to produce a technical design that encompassed all of the site’s specific features. Throughout this delicate stage (from design to implementation), the firm's collaboration with Direction régionale des affaires culturelles (DRAC) – whose role is to protect the building’s integrity – was particularly invaluable.

AURA Invalides - Mouvement I
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AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
Photo credit: Moment Factory

AURA Invalides - Mouvement II
Photo credit: Moment Factory

AURA Invalides - Mouvement I
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A Creative Process that Celebrates a Historic Monument

When the team at Moment Factory embarked on this ambitious project, above all it wanted to pay tribute to the genius of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and the talent of the architects, artists, and craftsmen who created Dôme des Invalides so that today’s visitors may discover, or rediscover, this exceptional French heritage site in a whole new way. The team’s artistic preference was to reveal the spirit of the place, comprising its architectural beauty, the memory with which it resonates, and the symbolism it conveys. After extensive historical research, the creative team worked closely with chief curators at Musée de l’Armée to ensure that the design was historically accurate.

AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
Photo credit: Moment Factory

AURA Invalides - Mouvement III
Photo credit: Moment Factory

An Orchestral Score, Specifically Composed to Enhance the Experience

The music was created by Montreal studio Troublemakers, in collaboration with Moment Factory’s creative teams. The score was devised and composed around the three movements that punctuate the AURA Invalides experience, with each piece featuring a distinct musical colour to highlight the contrasts that characterize the monument. The dome’s unusual acoustics, with almost 10 seconds of reverberation, dictated this original creation from start to finish.

Moment Factory: Creating Immersive Experiences for more than 20 Years

Over the years, through increasingly ambitious projects, Moment Factory has become an international standard-setter in the creation of immersive experiences that enable heritage sites to shine, thereby diversifying their initial offer and attracting new audiences. Whether at Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims in France, and now Dôme des Invalides, Moment Factory uses the power of storytelling and cutting-edge technology to create a spirit of collective wonder, creating intimate and unique bonds between the audience and the site. The monumental experience that is AURA Invalides reflects Moment Factory’s aspiration to enable this iconic site of Parisian and French heritage to engage with new audiences and continue to extend its legacy from generation to generation.

Moment Factory

Moment Factory is a multimedia studio with a full range of production expertise under one roof. The team combines specializations in video, lighting, architecture, sound, and special effects to create remarkable experiences. Headquartered in Montreal, the studio also has addresses in Tokyo, Paris, New York City, and Singapore. Since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has created more than 525 unique projects worldwide, including the Lumina Night Walk series.