New V&A exhibition offers viewers virtual ride in a driverless car

The Future Starts Here: The car simulates a drive through London
Victoria and Albert Museum

Londoners will be able to experience life as a passenger in a driverless car as part of a new V&A exhibition. The show at the South Kensington museum, The Future Starts Here, also includes art work that reacts to mobile phone use and other ground-breaking designs.

Visitors will be able to get into Sedric — Volkswagen’s attempt to harness the new technology — and watch a simulation of how it would cope with a journey through London.

The exhibition, supported by the car firm, also includes a new work by US artist Miranda July.

I’m Your President, Baby is made up of four curtains that open and shut to track the activity of an Uber-driving African refugee in Los Angeles.

They will react when Oumarou Idrissa, who is originally from Niger, messages his family on WhatsApp and Instagram or picks up a fare.

V&A director Tristram Hunt said the show would examine the “fast accelerating future of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and space exploration”. He said: “The V&A is taking live experiments about our future society from the studio and lab into the museum.

“This is the first major exhibition produced by our design, architecture and digital department and revives our founding principle to forefront cutting-edge art and design.” The show opens on Saturday and runs until November 4.

The Future Starts Here, V&A (May 12 - November 4 2018) - In pictures

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Meanwhile, the National Portrait Gallery is almost two-thirds of the way towards its fundraising target to transform the building after receiving a £5 million donation.

The money came from the Garfield Weston Foundation, set up by the Canadian businessman of the same name who once owned Fortnum and Mason, which has previously handed over several six-figure sums to pay for acquisitions such as Van Dyck’s self-portrait.

It will go towards the planned £35.5 million transformation, which includes building a new wing to create more than 500 square metres of further gallery space and expanding its shop and cafe.

The money comes after a £9.4 million pledge of Lottery funding and takes the total raised to £21.6 million with the target expected to be reached by March and work completed by 2022.

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