Now Lazzaretto Vecchio has been reborn as the home of Venice VR, a pioneering section at this year’s Venice film festival.
But over 3,000 visitors have made the crossing this week and the Venice VR section is widely judged to have been a success.
“The irony is that Venice, the oldest film festival in the world, is by far the most forward-thinking in terms of recognising new art forms,” says Liz Rosenthal, co-programmer of Venice VR.
You could say that the VR industry is in a similar place to the film industry was in the 1900s – the time of the first three-act narrative features.