On the second floor of a cultural center at Christ Cathedral in Orange County, an AI-rendered depiction of Jesus, calm and smiling, fills one side of the room. Breaking a piece of flatbread in two, he passes it to the 12 similarly enlarged men projected on all four walls around him. On the ground are images of heaping plates of food \u2014 roast lamb, vegetables, olives and dips.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake and eat,\u201d the AI Jesus says. \u201cThis is my body.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the center of the room, real-life visitors arrayed on 26 swivel chairs turn their heads back and forth to take in the supersized Last Supper occurring all around them. Already, they have been plunged into the sea of Galilee watching as Jesus walked on water and witnessed his transfiguration on a mountain top. It was all part of what\u2019s being touted as \u201ca museum unlike any other, where faith and forensics meet.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Visitors watch a 360-degree, AI-rendered video depicting the life of Jesus as told in the Gospels at the opening of the Shroud of Turin Experience at Christ Cathedral. <\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Located five miles from Disneyland on the campus that once housed televangelist Robert Schuller\u2019s Crystal Cathedral Ministries, the Shroud of Turin Experience is Orange County\u2019s newest tourist attraction with a Christian twist. The 10,000-square-foot exhibit, which opened to the public last week, uses digital projection, artificial intelligence and special effects to introduce visitors to the life of Jesus as depicted in the Gospels with a focus on the mysterious linen burial cloth that believers say wrapped his body after the crucifixion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little Disney-esque, but we really want you to feel like you are in these scenes,\u201d said Pat Powers, a financial adviser who helped raise money for the exhibit. \u201cWe want the whole experience to be visually overwhelming.\u201d <\/p>\n
Powered by technological advances and a consumer desire for in-person connection, immersive experiences are reinvigorating the way businesses and organizations connect with new audiences and the Catholic Church has taken note. From the viral success of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience<\/a> which arrived in L.A. in 2021 to the 360-degree entertainment at the Sphere in Las Vegas<\/a>, young people in particular are seeking new and dynamic ways of interacting with their entertainment. Now, as the Catholic Church seeks to connect with a new generation of Christians who may be unfamiliar with the Biblical Jesus and the mystery of the shroud, religious and lay leaders are exploring digitally enhanced ways of bringing people to faith. <\/p>\n An interactive screen at the Shroud of Turin Experience allows guests to zoom in on details of the shroud of Turin, a mysterious linen cloth which some believe covered Jesus after his death. <\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to speak to people the way they are used to being spoken to today and in a way they can absorb,\u201d Powers said. <\/p>\n Organizers said the desire to outfit the exhibit with digital bells and whistles came directly from the top. The Diocese of Orange only agreed to sign off on the privately funded project after organizers promised it would offer interactive elements beyond text and images.<\/p>\n \u201cI said no static pictures, too boring,\u201d said Bishop Timothy Freyer, auxiliary bishop of the diocese. \u201cPosters on the walls wasn\u2019t going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, signs around the 34-acre Christ Cathedral campus where the Diocese of Orange is located advertise \u201cThe Shroud of Turin Experience\u201d as if it were a summer blockbuster: \u201cDiscover the blood. Uncover the mystery. Encounter the light.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n