Feature: WORLD PREMIERE OF LEONARDO: THE UNIVERSAL MAN DEBUTS AT PERCEPTION LAS VEGAS

The iconic Las Vegas Strip's first permanent digital art museum, PERCEPTION Las Vegas, has opened to the public. The immersive and high-tech installations debuted with the world premiere of Leonardo: The Universal Man, chronicling the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci.

The 60-minute journey transports guests on an interactive exploration into the world of da Vinci as an artist, architect, engineer, alchemist, philosopher, and sculptor.

The three 360-degree gallery exhibits invite guests to interact and learn about da Vinci's works, studies, and findings.

Grand Salon: Chapters of the Genius' Life

Guests first enter a 28-foot-tall, four-wall theater on a voyage to Renaissance-era Italy through da Vinci's eyes using advanced laser projection and transportive audio. Chapters of his life unfold during this 35-minute film showcasing his different disciplines. Each wall of the theater portrays a different visual perspective as the narrative progresses. Guests will learn about da Vinci's engineering and architectural feats and fly in his Flying Machine, stand in cathedrals digitally constructed through geometry, and float through Tuscany on a parachute initially designed by the master himself.

Painting with Light: The Last Supper

This visual expedition will explore The Last Supper, one of da Vinci's most legendary paintings during the Italian High Renaissance. The gallery with floor-to-ceiling, surround-sound LED walls, brings one of the world's most famous works of art to life through an explosion of color, shape, light, and sound.

The Gallery: Mona Lisa's Perception

Guests are greeted by six versions of Lisa del Giocondo - better known to the world as the Mona Lisa. Accompanied by an original musical score, guests will experience da Vinci in the digital age as they each take on intriguing and entertaining forms of the best-known, most-visited, sung- and written-about image in the art world.

PERCEPTION was created by nightlife pioneer and CEO Robert Frey and entrepreneur Ned Collett.

"We were inspired to create PERCEPTION, and now is the perfect time," explains Robert. "Everything has now become digital, and this offers exciting opportunities to do so much with the medium. We wanted to create vast experiences." As demonstrated by The Gallery: Mona Lisa's Perception, it can suddenly take guests looking at a static painting to different perceptions and what maybe the artist envisioned.

He selected da Vinci for the debut "because I have always been a big fan of his. If you look at his body of work, he only did 17 paintings, but his genius, along with his paintings, is that he was the first person to map the heart and veins and figure out how the blood flowed. He set up the whole dynamic of flying, drawing airplanes, helicopters, and parachutes. He was the first person to suggest that men could live underwater for a period of time. I just love his body of work."

The Dutch multidisciplinary creative agency, TWOFIFTYK, brought Leonardo: The Universal Man to life. TWOFIFTYK has created digital entertainment for Electric Daisy Carnival, Martin Garrix, and Armin Van Buuren.

PERCEPTION will feature a rotation of immersive digital art installations with artists spotlighted and exhibited in new ways throughout the 17,000-square-foot-space.

PERCEPTION, located at 2780 Las Vegas Blvd. S., is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is appropriate for all ages. The museum is in a free-standing building on the Strip featuring works of art on its exterior walls with parking in the back for guests. Tickets can be purchased at www.perceptionlasvegas.com or by calling 702-476-9069. Follow on Facebook @ PerceptionVegas and Instagram @ perceptionvegas.

Photos by 501 Studios