Steps of Progress VR

Through VR headsets, visitors find themselves in a railway carriage compartment, where they gradually encounter fellow passengers from different historical periods – from the late 19th century through the 20th century to the present and a hinted future. The individual time layers – the years 1890, 1930, and 1960 – are depicted using 360° video combining live-action characters with a virtual environment. Dialogues take place between František Křižík and Antonín Dvořák, Tomáš Baťa and Olga Scheinpflugová, or Jaroslav Heyrovský and Jan Werich. Their reflections are accompanied by wit, humor, and irony. At the end of the installation, two robots symbolically join the compartment, offering a different, non-human perspective on the development of civilization.

The video is not only a visual experience, but also an impulse to reflect on progress, which is not always linear nor flawless. On technologies that transform society – and on humans who try to cope with these changes, accept them, or resist them. The essence of humanity also lies in its contradictions.