XR Experience Competition at Fairmont
World premieres of mind bending immersive art.
Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.
For four days in September of 1906 in Atlanta, Georgia, a white mob - incited by the race-baiting of politicians and local newspapers - violently attacked the black community across the city. Using volumetric performances, hand-drawn Quill image and AI animations, this augmented reality project allows audiences to follow writer and editor Jesse Max Barber's as he tries to tell the world this buried truth. This piece was made in a collaboration with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and award-winning Emblematic Group’s director Nonny de la Peña, who has more than a decade of AR/VR experience, alongside a consultancy with director Alton Glass and journalist Retha Hill.
A way to end humanity many times over through nuclear annihilation has been created and perfected. Are we sleepwalking into our own demise? What will it be like? Any War Any Enemy is both a depiction of any war as well as the “last war.” The focus is on the human beings on the receiving end, which, in the next global war, will be all of us. Any War Any Enemy is an anti-war immersive poem a preemptive requiem for the world lost to self-destruction. This last moment is “stretched” into a series of mise-en-scènes that build to a shocking finale.
An immersive journey through the cosmos on Apple Vision Pro. The stars have always captured our imagination, and the latest advances in space travel and telescopy are creating images that are both stunning in detail and have profound learnings hidden within. This unique immersive experience takes you from looking up at the night sky to the depths of outer space, through images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Journey through the breathtaking, high-resolution imagery like never before, hearing insights from the scientists working with NASA and ESA on what the images reveal, and how they are shaping our understanding of the cosmos.
'Currents' is a live-action VR film crafted for the Apple Vision Pro, following Linh, a young woman leaving her tranquil countryside for the relentless energy of Ho Chi Minh City. As she navigates chaos of urban life, the film examines how rapidly growing cities reshape our identities, dreams, and connections, offering a poignant reflection on the human cost of progress. Blending traditional filmmaking with motion capture, intricate animation, and an original score by Jake Oleson, 'Currents' utilizes the Vision Pro’s unprecedented fidelity to step into Linh’s world as she breaks generations of farming tradition to forge a life of her own in one of the world’s fastest-growing cities.
'Face Jumping' is an interactive, eye-tracked VR experience that lets the player swap perspectives by making eye contact with characters, animals, and objects. The game explores the desire and impossibility of seeing through the eyes of another. Jump from mind to mind as you seek enlightenment. Gaze out from a tree’s knots, and time speeds up. Look through a robot’s eyes, and the world is filtered through computer vision. Slip into a dog’s perspective, and scent becomes a portal to other worlds. This experience invites players to reflect on the act of seeing and being seen, evoking questions about perception, consciousness, and how we connect to others through a glance.
'Honey Fungus' is an interactive VR experience where users are guided by a queer, sentient mycelial entity through vignettes based on the fungal reproductive cycle. Across multiple scenes, users are invited to engage in sensory interactions that shape and transform the environment. As they progress, they encounter spores that reveal the earth’s hidden vitality and erotic potential, speaking through poetic passages generated by training AI on a unique blend of Smithsonian field research and amateur erotica. In these spaces, the scientific merges with the sensual, opening possibilities for new forms of ecological stewardship and mutual care between human and non-human life.
This haptic VR experience shares the true story of Carolyn Mercer, a survivor of electroshock conversion therapy aimed at 'correcting' her gender identity. Through wearable haptic vests, sleeves, and gloves, participants physically connect to the rhythm of Carolyn’s heartbeat, the cadence of her breath, and the tremors of the procedures she endured. Her journey confronts the inhumanity of these practices and highlights the extraordinary strength it takes to live authentically.
'Proof As If Proof Were Needed' is an interactive single screen video installation. Visitors move around the floorplan of a Taiwanese house. As you step into a room, the video projection switches to show that room. As you explore the house, you discover the history of a couple who lived there. They have returned to their deserted home to tidy up the secrets they hold from each other. The work is both a closed loop and a story that unfolds progressively. The order in which you explore the rooms opens up different interpretations. 'Proof As If Proof Were Needed' is a vivid cinematic work that follows the logic of dreams as you wander through the debris of a relationship breakdown.
“The future is full of anxiety and uncertainty—thinking about the past is calm.” - Professor Dr. Chua Beng Huat 'Reflections of Little Red Dot' is a mixed reality experience that animates the artist’s personal archive of recordings from Singaporeans in 2015, the year of their nation’s 50th birthday. The experience layers a virtual environment atop our physical space, guiding us to walk through atmospheres of Singapore, where we hear personal stories amidst rapid development and erasure of historical and personal sites. AI projections connect past and future landscapes, guiding us to reflect on how we traverse space and the significance of familiar places.
'Shelter' is a virtual reality documentary directed by Sjors Swierstra (The Netherlands) and co-directed by Ivanna Khitsinska (Ukraine) that offers an intimate look at the war in Ukraine. The film immerses the viewer in everyday scenes: from a tender conversation between pregnant women in an underground maternity ward in Kyiv to the heart-wrenching funeral of a soldier in Lviv. From the tense preparation of soldiers in a frontline barracks to the breathtaking performance of a symphony orchestra in a basement in Kharkiv. In Shelter, the audience is invited to step into a virtual space with people from Ukraine, to witness moments of shared humanity and reflect on the cost of war.
The 2022 Audience Award winner returns with two new episodes to deepen the conversation about reproductive rights. Makayla, a young woman from Texas, shares her journey through two abortions shaped by physical challenges and life circumstances, emphasizing personal agency. Leigh and Dan, a married couple, reflect on unplanned pregnancy and explore doubts, decisions, and dynamics of shared choice, with a rare focus on the male partner's role. 'The Choice' uses minimalist animation, immersive VR and life-like volumetrics to foster empathy through intimate, conversation-like interactions. These new chapters underscore the diversity of experience and the universal need for freedom to choose.
You are the newest member of a band on the verge of breaking up. You're not famous, but out of the garage. Somewhere in the middle, a place where dreams can only last for so long. In a world beset with algorithmic careers and generative push-button-creativity in the name of "AI", what is the role of art, and inspiration any more? It's up to you to help remind the band of their inspirations, by sifting through the records of foundational artists, and craft an entirely new song.
In this mixed reality adventure, you are a recruit in the GEU, a team tasked with exploring parallel realities from a mysterious station known as Gateway. Your first mission takes you into SOLUM, a world full of unique inhabitants and wonderful environments. You’ll explore three distinct quantum breaches, each leading to a different place on SOLUM, gathering vital data on the creatures tied to them. As a secondary objective, you’ll also track objects that don’t belong in this world, further unraveling the mysteries of SOLUM. Perform well, and you may secure a permanent spot on the team. However, not everything goes as planned—your journey may take you further than expected.
'Traces: The Grief Processor' is a multiuser interactive VR experience that invites you to poetically explore your grief - whether from the loss of a loved one, a friendship, or even a dream. Led by a ritualist and shaped by the creator’s personal journey, the experience unfolds within a dreamlike forest, where each step gently unveils a new facet of grief. In this space, grief is not something to overcome, but to acknowledge, express, and integrate into the fabric of life. A playful yet profound documentary-based odyssey, 'Traces' guides its participants through the universal complexities of loss, helping them emerge with a renewed sense of hope and connection.
'Ways of Knowing' is an immersive documentary about Navajo resilience to protect health, tradition, and land after enduring extensive uranium mining by the United States government throughout the Cold War. Eight decades after the Manhattan Project which birthed the nuclear-industrial complex, Indigenous communities across the American Southwest continue to suffer from toxic exposure, and live among contaminated land and waterways. But the landscape and its elements – including uranium – have been considered sacred long before this history. 'Ways of Knowing' illuminates how, despite generations of personal and environmental trauma, there is still a profound reason for hope and healing.