The British Music Experience, the world's only fully interactive, permanent exhibition dedicated to the history of popular music in Britain, opened today. Being held at the O2 Bubble, part of what has quickly become the world's most popular music venue, the O2, the exhibition uses cutting edge technology to immerse visitors into the sounds and sights that have made British music popular the world over.

The exhibition - more details and a preview video can be seen below - covers a huge 6,500 square metres, and more than 100 artists, including Pink Floyd, have given around £5million worth of memorabilia. Indeed, at the launch event last week, Nick Mason was seen in the Gibson Guitar Lounge at the exhibition, showing budding drummers how to keep time!

Seven musical eras, ranging from 1945 to the present day, are represented with their own exhibition zones. The memorabilia on display are accompanied by videos of the items being played, or worn, and each area includes an interactive screen covering the main events in that period.

Visitors are also given the opportunities to try their hand with various instruments, or learn how to dance, and as with some of the exhibits, a smart card enables you to take away certain things to explore further at home, via the official website.

The following official preview should give you a little taste of what you might find there: