John & Yoko ‘Virtual Bed-In Experience’ Opens

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UNLTD Debuts John Lennon’s Suite 1742: A Virtual Bed-in Experience (CNW Group/UNLTD)

UNLTD, a virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) production studio with VR/3D camera and shooting technology, has been commissioned to create a “VR immersive experience” of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s bed-in for peace for the newly redesigned Suite 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, where the couple held their bed-in for peace in 1969. The pair engaged in this peaceful protest against the Vietnam War during a seven-day period during which they invited journalists and friends into their bedroom suite to visit, observe and participate in their protest. It was also during this weeklong historic event that Lennon recorded “Give Peace a Chance” while in Suite 1742. The production was commissioned by Fairmont Hotels, Ivanhoé Cambridge Properties and co-producer MassivArt Agency

Guests of the Fairmont’s redesigned suite will be able to don virtual reality headsets, placed on the nightstands on either side of the bed, for an immersive experience, allowing them to sense the unique energy of the bed-in from the point of view of John or Yoko. The newly finished suite features the lyrics of “Give Peace a Chance” on one wall and window decals above the bed reminiscent of the original protest posters.

John and Yoko at the Toronto bed-in

The VR experience was conceptualized and directed by Carl Ruscica, a director with over 20 years of experience.

“Suite 1742: a virtual bed-in experience” takes the audience into the 2017 version of the suite 1742. As the participant relaxes on the same bed on which John and Yoko held their protest, a maid begins to clean the room and before they know it, they are transported back to the 1960s as journalists rush the room and bombard them with questions.

The ‘Suite 1742 project is described in a press release as “an immersive voyage that takes you on a journey from the present to the past; it’s part fiction and part documentary and offers insight into John and Yoko’s ideas and values at the time, which are still highly relevant today,” says director Carl Ruscica.

In addition to being offered at the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal, the experience will be premiered internationally at the Future of Storytelling Festival in New York on October 6-8. The Future of Storytelling Festival is described in the release as “the leading immersive storytelling event open to the media and public.”

For more information about UNLTD, go here.

To view the “Suite 1742” trailers, watch the video.

Watch the original 70-minute Bed Peace documentary