The Virtual Online Museum of Art plans to be the world’s first fully interactive virtual museum. Opening online on August 14, VOMA will present curated exhibitions featuring seminal works from major institutions around the world, alongside works by contemporary artists and specially commissioned interactive pieces that make use of the VOMA platform.

“I believe art should be for everyone," says British artist and VOMA founder Stuart Semple. "The internet is the most inclusive and democratic public space we have, and it’s time we had a digital museum-style institution ready to inspire and connect online audiences with great art.”

VOMA collaborated with a team of artists, curators, game developers, CGI artists, and architects to create the totally free, fully immersive museum that anyone, anywhere in the world can visit.

Semple conceived the project and is heading up the collaboration between architect Emily Mann, curator Lee Cavaliere (who is Director of VOMA) and a team in the US headed up by Corneel and Michael who between them have several decades experience in gaming, CGI and network computing.

VOMA is more than just another online viewing room or digitization of something that exists in the physical world, says Semple. Adding, "We are working on a gorgeous amalgamation of considered curation, visionary architecture, game design, CGI, and global community interactivity. We are making a digital institution that’s capable of showcasing art in ways audiences have not had the chance to experience before and if we are lucky, a digital legacy that will live for years to come."

Hypebeast reports that VOMA will open its virtual doors to the public with an exhibition that includes important works such as Édouard Manet’s Olympia, The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio’s The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.