Voices of VR
667 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 158 ratingsDesigning for Virtual Reality. Oral history podcast featuring the pioneering artists, storytellers, and technologists driving the resurgence of virtual & augmented reality. Learn about the patterns of immersive storytelling, experiential design, ethical frameworks, & the ultimate potential of XR.
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Episodes
#1340: Recreating the Social Dynamics of a Road Trip in “Yugo: The Non-Game”
January 23, 2024 20:36 - 28 minutes - 20.1 MBI interviewed Yugo : The Non-Game creator Petrit Hoxha at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1339: “The School, a World” uses Web Documentary to Profile Changes in the Small Polish Town of Chlebiotki
January 23, 2024 20:35 - 59 minutes - 41.2 MBI interviewed The School, a World creators Iga Łapińska & Krzysztof Pijarski at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. Here's a link to the web documentary of The School, a World so that you can explore it yourself, run time is a bit over two and a half hours if you watch it all. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1338: Multi-Sensory Immersive Art Installation “Redemption” Deconstructs Brazil’s History of Eugenics
January 23, 2024 20:34 - 57 minutes - 40 MBI interviewed Redemption creator Mariana Luiza at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1337: Using Night Vision Googles to Watch Viscerally Immersive Dance Performance “One Two” in Total Darkness
January 23, 2024 20:33 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBI interviewed One Two creator Christian Bakalov at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1336: “Close” Uses Hand Gestures to Switch Between Audio Commentary Channels on Juitamai Dance Performance
January 23, 2024 20:31 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBI interviewed Close creator Hana Umeda at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1335: Retrospective on Lodz Film School’s Visual Narratives Lab and “Whispers” with Jacek Nagłowski
January 23, 2024 20:30 - 56 minutes - 39 MBI interviewed Lodz Film School's Visual Narratives Lab director Jacek Nagłowski at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1334: “Anouschka” Wins IDFA DocLab Digital Storytelling Award with AR Narrative Game about Cultural Heritage
January 23, 2024 20:29 - 40 minutes - 28.2 MBI interviewed Anouschka creator Tamara Shogaolu at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1333: AI Remix of 1982 Documentary “Koyaanisqatsi” with “The Vivid Unknown” Interactive Video Installation
January 23, 2024 20:28 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBI interviewed The Vivid Unknown creator John Fitzgerald at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1332: “Texada” Tells the Story of Limestone Across Geologic Time With Animation and 360 Video
January 23, 2024 20:27 - 50 minutes - 34.8 MBI interviewed Texada creators Josephine Anderson & Claire Sanford at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1331: Recreating Spatial Presence in Caves with Point Clouds & Spatial Audio in “Buried in the Rock” Documentary
January 23, 2024 20:25 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBI interviewed Buried in the Rock creators Shehani Fernando & Anetta Jones at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1330: “Squeeker: The Mouse” Coach Interspecies Fitness App Collaboration
January 23, 2024 20:20 - 37 minutes - 26.1 MBI interviewed Squeeker: The Mouse Coach creator Jiabao Li at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1329: Mixed Reality “PHANTOM” Installation Explores Dark Sides of Mental Illness with Gallows Humor
January 23, 2024 20:19 - 28 minutes - 20.1 MBI interviewed PHANTOM creator Aluta Null at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1328: Kickoff of IDFA DocLab 2023 Coverage: “Natalie’s Trifecta” is a Virtual Tour of Natalie Paneng’s Digital Art, Identity, & Imagination
January 23, 2024 20:16 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBI interviewed Natalie's Trifecta creator Natalie Paneng at IDFA DocLab 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. Here are my 19 interviews that I conducted at IDFA DocLab 2023: #1328: Kickoff of IDFA DocLab 2023 Coverage: Natalie's Trifecta is a Virtual Tour of Natalie Paneng's Digital Art, Identity, & Imagination #1325: End of Tung-Yen Chou’s Gay Sauna Trilogy with "Traversing the Mist" #1327: "Voice in My Head" Remixes Your Inner Monologue with AI #1329: Mixed Reality "PHAN...
#1327 “Voice in My Head” Remixes Your Inner Monologue with AI
December 29, 2023 15:31 - 46 minutes - 32 MBVoice in My Head is a provocative immersive exploration by Kyle McDonald and Lauren Lee McCarthy that takes large language models the logical extreme of remixing and modulating your inner monologue. Audience participants are invited to customize ChatGPT character that clones your voice to speak to you via an ear bud as you walk around the DocLab festival in Amsterdam and have casual conversations with festival attendees for a half hour. The AI listens to everything you and your interlocutors ...
#1326 “Surrogate” Experimental Web Doc and Performance by Lauren Lee McCarthy
December 29, 2023 15:20 - 47 minutes - 33.3 MBLauren Lee McCarthy showed Surrogate during the pandemic at Sundance 2022 as an experimental web documentary and immersive performance. Here’s the synopsis: “To become a surrogate. I offer my body to carry someone else’s baby while they use an app to monitor and control me for nine months… As Roe v. Wade is overturned and gene editing opens entirely new reproductive futures, this project asks: How much control should we have over a birthing person’s body, and over a life before it’s born? Wha...
#1325 End of Tung-Yen Chou’s Gay Sauna Trilogy with “Traversing the Mist”
December 29, 2023 15:04 - 56 minutes - 39.4 MBTraversing the Mist premiered at IDFA DocLab 2023, and is the conclusion of the Mist trilogy by Taiwanese VR director Tung-Yen CHOU. In the Mist was a 360 video, Gazing, in the Mist was a mixed reality installation, and Traversing the Mist is an interactive, multiplayer 6-DoF VR installation. Here is a synopsis “Step into the body of a young Taiwanese man to roam the steamy rooms and red-lit corridors of a surreal gay sauna—with thin mattresses, shared showers and lockers holding secrets. Eve...
#1324 Beginning of Tung-Yen Chou’s Gay Sauna Trilogy with “In the Mist”
December 29, 2023 15:01 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBTung-Yen CHOU’s In the Mist is a 360 video that premiered at Venice during the pandemic in 2021. The synopsis of the piece is “In a dim-lighted room filled with mist, blurred figures of men are sipping the desire and loneliness from each other. You seem to have entered a forbidden zone and fallen into a state between dreaming and being awake, gazing at someone and also being gazed at by them. Theatre and new media director Chou Tung-Yen once again touches on the unspeakable life experience of...
#1323 Fourth Iteration of Lance Weiler’s Community Greiving Ritual with “Where There’s Smoke”
December 29, 2023 14:56 - 1 hour - 50.8 MBLance Weiler’s Where There’s Smoke is an immersive experience that he used to process his grief from losing his father, who was a volunteer firefighter and amateur photographer who would take pictures of fires and take Lance with him on these excursions. Weiler always wondered if his father had more involvement in any of these fires than merely observing and documenting them, and there was always some ambiguity in getting to the bottom of this question. As he says in his synopsis “Weiler unra...
#1322 Beginning of Lance Weiler’s Grieving Journey with “Where There’s Smoke”
December 29, 2023 14:56 - 54 minutes - 38.1 MBIn 2019, Lance Weiler premiered Where There’s Smoke at Tribeca Immersive, which has since had four major iterations focusing on different innovations in immersive storytelling. It’s a very personal story where Weiler interviews his father about his life and passion of taking amateur photos of fires while his father was dying from stage four colon cancer. I had a chance to speak about his 17-year journey with this project after his world premiere in 2019, and then the next episode is an update...
#1321: Breaking Down the Epic Immersive Adventure of “Asgard’s Wrath 2” with an Oculus Studios Producer
December 14, 2023 16:03 - 1 hour - 44.4 MBAsgard's Wrath 2 is one of the most epic games I've had a chance to play, and I think it's fair to say that it's like Meta's Half-Life: Alyx in terms of a premium AAA game that could be a system seller for the Quest 3. I'm about 40 hours into the game, and I'm only on the 3rd of 7 total sagas. Meta reports that the main campaign is around 60 hours with 130 total hours if you try to achieve all of the side quests and other completionist tasks. Overall, there has been plenty of ways that I've f...
#1320: Plans for VisionDevCamp, an Apple Vision Pro Hackathon after Q1 2024 Launch
December 07, 2023 18:49 - 1 hour - 48 MBThe co-founders of the first iPhoneDevCamp in 2007, Raven Zachary and Dom Sagolla, are planning on hosting the inaugural VisionDevCamp in the Bay Area a week or two after the Apple Vision Pro launch, which is currently expected sometime in the first quarter of 2024. I had a chance to get more context for the origin story of the iPhoneDevCamp, iPadDevCamp, and iOSDevCamp gatherings as well as how it has helped to facilitate innovation of mobile apps and development frameworks. They are hopin...
#1319: Preview of 40 Raindance Immersive 2023 Indie VR Art, Music, Game, Narrative, & Live Experiences
November 09, 2023 07:19 - 1 hour - 54.1 MBRaindance Immersive is back with 40 independent VR experiences across eight categories of Immersive World, Immersive Experience, Immersive Art Experience, Immersive Music Experience, Immersive Narrative, Immersive Game, and two new categories of Short Film of VR and Music Video of VR, which are 2D films that are shot within virtual reality. 75% of this year's selection has some connection to a social VR platform with 28 connected to VRChat with single experiences in EngageXR and Resonite (i.e...
#1318: Why Fitness App Developer Andre Elijah is Suing Meta for Alleged Anti-Competitive Behaviors
November 09, 2023 01:04 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBOn October 10, 2023 Andre Elijah Immersive filed a $353 million dollar lawsuit against Meta Platforms Technologies and Alo LLC (PDF & Exhibits via UploadVR) claiming both a breach of contract for how Meta terminated a fitness application that it was funding, but also for a broader pattern of anti-competitive behaviors and Sherman Act violations. Elijah is claiming that Meta is giving preference to their own first-party fitness application of Supernatural after the FTC failed to block the acqu...
#1317: Qualcomm’s XR2 Gen 2 and AR 1 Gen 1 Announcement by Hugo Swart
October 05, 2023 12:22 - 34 minutes - 24.1 MBI got consent from Qualcomm to publish Hugo Swart's press briefing that he gave to journalists a week ahead of Meta Connect 2023 where he announced the new XR2 Gen 2 and AR1 Gen 1 chips for the first time. Here is the announcement video teaser that was the first video shown during the briefing. See more context in the rough transcript below. Here are links to all all 12 interviews from my series covering Meta Connect 2023 in looking at first impressions of Quest 3 and Rayban Meta Smartglasse...
#1316: I-Illusions Premieres Mixed Reality Game “Bam” at Meta Connect & “Space Pirate Trainer” History
October 05, 2023 12:17 - 24 minutes - 17.2 MBI interviewed Dirk Van Welden, Studio Lead and Creative Director at I-Illusions, at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1315: Latest Research on Innerworld VR Mental Health Peer Support Platform & Cognitive Behavioral Immersion
October 05, 2023 12:15 - 33 minutes - 23.6 MBI interviewed Noah Robinson, Founder and CEO of Innerworld VR, at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1314: Cloudhead Games CEO Denny Unger on the Need to Support Indie Devs to Push Limits of VR & Mixed Reality
October 05, 2023 12:13 - 52 minutes - 36.5 MBI interviewed Cloudhead Games CEO & Creative Director Denny Unger at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1313: Veteran Games Journalist Dean Takahashi on Mixed Reality, AI, Sci-Fi, Unity vs Unreal, and Meta Connect
October 05, 2023 12:12 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBI interviewed Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer at Games Beat and Venture Beat, at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1312: VR Filmmaking Tips from Hugh Hou & Keeley Turner
October 05, 2023 12:11 - 49 minutes - 34.5 MBI interviewed VR filmmakers Hugh Hou & Keeley Turner at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1311: Bringing React Native to Enterprise XR App Development with Matt Hargett
October 05, 2023 12:09 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MBI interviewed founder of Rebecker Specialties Matt Hargett at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1310: Ethereal Engine as an Open Source, WebXR Pipeline for Apple Vision Pro and Beyond
October 05, 2023 12:08 - 38 minutes - 26.7 MBI interviewed Ethereal Engine co-founder and CEO Liam Broza at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1309: Why JoyReignVR and JDun Chose Meta’s Horizon Worlds as their Preferred Social VR Platform
October 05, 2023 12:06 - 37 minutes - 26.2 MBI interviewed Meta Horizon World Builders JoyReignVR & JDun at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1308: Meta Horizon World Builder Paige Dansinger on Creating Art History Museum Tours
October 05, 2023 12:04 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBI interviewed Meta Horizon World Builder Paige Dansinger at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1307: Quest 3 First Impressions with YouTubers Naysy and VR with Jasmine
October 05, 2023 12:03 - 30 minutes - 20.9 MBI interviewed VR YouTubers Jasmine Uniza (VR with Jasmine) & Naysy on their first impressions of the Quest 3 at Meta Connect 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1306: Kickoff of Meta Connect Series with CNET’s Scott Stein Analyzing Meta’s XR & AI Announcements
October 05, 2023 12:01 - 56 minutes - 38.8 MBI interviewed CNET writer Scott Stein at Meta Connect about his first impressions of the Quest 3, Rayban Meta Smartglasses, AI, and Meta's strategy as they move into Mixed Reality. See more context in the rough transcript below. Here are links to all all 12 interviews from my series covering Meta Connect 2023 in looking at first impressions of Quest 3 and Rayban Meta Smartglasses, mixed reality trends, AI, Meta Horizon World Builders, WebXR and alternative production pipelines like React Nat...
#1305: Critics Roundtable for Venice Immersive 2023 Breaking Down all 43 Projects
September 27, 2023 08:13 - 3 hours - 49.6 MBThis is a critics roundtable for Venice Immersive 2023 featuring Pola Weiß, a funding executive for XR and new technologies Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, as well as Alina Mikhaleva who produces virtual events at EngageXR heads up a Creative XR Studio called Less Media Group, Agnese Pietrobon who is a writer at XR Must, storylistener and independent researcher, and myself, Kent Bye of the Voices of VR Podcast. See more context in the rough transcript below. Here's a list of all 35 podcasts ...
#1304: Capturing an Archive of Destroyed Palestinian Homes with “Remember This Place”
September 27, 2023 08:10 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBI interviewed Remember This Place: 31°20’46’’N 34°46’46’’E director Patricia Echeverria after Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1303: A Deep Dive into Breaking Down the Experiential Design of “The Imaginary Friend”
September 27, 2023 08:08 - 1 hour - 66.5 MBI interviewed The Imaginary Friend director Steye Hallema at Venice Immersive 2023 after passing along a recommendation to watch my Storycon keynote on Presence, Experiential Design, & Immersive Storytelling. We do a deep dive into applying some of these ideas around the different qualities of presence to his project. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1302: “Aufwind” Uses Motion Platform and Beautiful Environmental Design to Explore Aviation Sexism
September 27, 2023 08:08 - 33 minutes - 23.5 MBI interviewed Aufwind (Upwind) director Florian Siebert at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1301: “Gaudi, L’Atelier Du Divin” Explores Gaudi’s Work Place and Architectural Achievements
September 27, 2023 08:00 - 18 minutes - 12.7 MBI interviewed Gaudi, L’Atelier Du Divin producers Agnes Garaudel and Vincent Guttmann at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1300: Prolific Meta XR Producer Ryan Genji Thomas on VR Storytelling Innovations with Animation
September 27, 2023 07:59 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBI interviewed Meta XR producer Ryan Genji Thomas at Venice Immersive 2023. Check out all of the Quill pieces, narrative apps, and Horizon worlds that Ryan has produced down below and check out more context in the rough transcript below as well. Narrative animation experiencesYearTitleStudio/Creator2019The RemedyDaniel Martin Peixe2020Tales from Soda Island - Chapter 1: The Multiverse BakeryStudio Syro2020The ReservoirMaiden InteractiveRic Carrasquillo2020Cube Farm (ep 1)Two Trick PonyDir. To...
#1299: Character-Driven Quill Animation Piece “Perennials” Explores Nostalgia and Family Dynamics
September 27, 2023 07:55 - 39 minutes - 27.7 MBI interviewed Perennials director Zoe Roellin at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1298: The Story Behind “Pepitos: the Beak Saga” Quill Piece
September 27, 2023 07:50 - 40 minutes - 28.2 MBI interviewed Pepitos: the Beak Saga director Ruxandra Popescu at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1297: Studio Syro’s Groundbreaking Quill Series “Tales from Soda Island”
September 27, 2023 07:48 - 1 hour - 50.2 MBI interviewed The First Ingredient: Tales from Soda Island – Ch. 7 director and writer Simone 'Funi' Fougnier , producer Peter Ariet, animator & director Dan-Franke at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. Tales from Soda Island - Chapter 1: The Multiverse Bakery Tales from Soda Island - Chapter 2: The Neon Jungle Tales from Soda Island - Chapter 3: The Quantum Race Tales from Soda Island - Chapter 4: The Golden Record Tales from Soda Island - Chapter 5: ...
#1296: “Wallace & Gromit in the Grand Getaway” Translating Big IP Narrative & Animation Rules into VR
September 27, 2023 07:44 - 59 minutes - 41 MBI interviewed Wallace & Gromit in "The Grand Getaway" co-directors Finbar Hawkins and Bram Ttwheam, and No Ghost Creative Director Lawrence Bennett at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1295: The AR Pop-Up Book Innovations of “Jim Henson’s The Storyteller” & Amazing Shot of Earth in “The Orbit”
September 27, 2023 07:20 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBI interviewed Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens + The Orbit director Paul Raphaël at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1294: Buddy Comedy “Gargoyle Doyle” Pushes at the Edges of Mixed Reality Storytelling
September 27, 2023 07:19 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MBI interviewed Gargoyle Doyle director Ethan Shaftel at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1293: The Personalized AI-Driven “Tulpamancer” VR Sandpaintings with AI Text to Audio & VR Workflow
September 27, 2023 07:17 - 1 hour - 48.3 MBI interviewed Tulpamancer co-directors Marc Da Costa and Matthew Niederhauser as well as AI Engineer Aaron Santiago at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1292: Pioneering the VR Essay with “Shadowtime” Critiquing Sci-Fi Dystopic Aspirations of VR
September 27, 2023 07:08 - 59 minutes - 41.4 MBI interviewed Shadowtime co-directors Sister Sylvester (Kathryn Hamilton) and Deniz Tortum at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
#1291: Excellent Redirected Wandering to Discover Indigenous Transmissions in “Origen”
September 27, 2023 07:06 - 28 minutes - 20 MBI interviewed Origen director Emilia Sánchez Chiquetti at Venice Immersive 2023. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality