As I'm working my way through the amazing @mdf_cannes + @Tribeca Experiences on show here as part of #mdf20/#mdfonline #CannesXR Virtual 2020, I'll be posting snippets + observations abt selected experiences in this thread, starting first with the museum foyer setup... 
https://twitter.com/MuseumOR/status/1276032527530987520
1st impressions count, and the effort that the @MuseumOR team + all orgs + artists involved = gold. The "follow-the-yellow-brick-road" approach [or in this case, teleport-across-the-red-carpet] really builds anticipation [+ there's nuthin like a decent gray+red combo, right?]...
The first work I had the absolute pleasure of experiencing in the #Tribeca VR Arcade was "A Linha"/"The Line" [@TheLineVR] by @laganaro...
This VR Experience was an absolute wonder, a gorgeously realised and poignant clockwork-puppet love story traversing the stitching of emotional connection[s], the perils + joy of change, and the power of taking a path less travelled. In short, @TheLineVR = highly recommended.
The next work I fell ridicuously head-over-heels into in the #TribecaVR Arcade is #TheBookofDistance by @RandallOkita, @davidoppenheim, @samtimes, @thenfb + others. This work is a gut-wrenchingly stunning retelling of the realities of the Canadian Japanese internment camps...
...as told by the POV of @RandallOkita [as in a physically embodied VR “sketch” version of him at least] concerning his interred Grandfather. But this VR Experience is much more than just a simple retelling, with archival documents/footage realised in a wonderful combination...
...of 2D and 3D to flesh out the life story of an adventurous 15-year old Japanese Yoneso who in 1935 leaves his Hiroshima home to journey to Canada, where his life unfurls into tragedy, loss, survival, and family-building.
The interactive elements in #TheBookOfDistance operate as sublime narrative anchors, so much so when encountering certain aspects [documents/photographs] they left me bawling in my Vive headset [which was a challenge to negotiate]. Put plainly: find a way to experience this work.
Next up on my #CannesXR Tribeca VR Arcade jaunt: "Gravity VR" by Fabio Rychter and Amir Admoni. An odd tale of two brothers falling through space in an exploded world. The room in which it was exhibited was beautifully stark in its bare-toned minimalism [as seen in this video]...
This minimalist slant was also reflected in the actual VR experience itself [to great effect]. It was a shame then that the interaction mechanics used in “Gravity VR” felt more like an afterthought...
...with the potential of the plot holding more promise than the actual realisation of it [even with the choose-your-own-adventurish branched ending + gorgeous visuals/spatials]. To be fair to the work, I've only experienced one variation of the ending: perhaps I should revisit?
So doing a speedrun around the @MuseumOR for @Steveteeps to see if a work he'd created some designs for was included in the Tribeca Virtual Arcade and *BAM!*: the penny dropped about the actual Escher-like construction of the entire gallery [ie *how did I not see it b4 now?!]...
...on approaching the end of the Tribeca Virtual Arcade, you have the option to teleport directly onto the wall, which then starts an almost Penrose Stairs-ish trek into the other gallery wings with the floor becoming the ceiling & vice-versa [!!!] The result = a tad mindbending.
The next VR work showcased at #CannesXR/#MDF20 is a lovely work in progress that reworks the Greek Icarus myth into a quasi-operatic, demoscene-like spatial medley. I thought at first that "Icarus" must have been the same team that crafted one of my favourite-ever XR works...
...which is a VR music video called _Surge_, with _Surge_ overtones percolating throughout in both the [initial] musical style and visual aspects. But, turns out I was wrong. The team behind "Icarus" is actually a co-production between Lemieux Pilon/@4dart and Normal Studio.
1 of the things I love abt these larger @MuseumOR Events [and yes, *disclaimer* I am one of their artists] is the chance of the happy accident/frissonic seepage that can happen, like how these black floating orbs from the "Gravity" room have subtly infiltrated the "Icarus" room.
So what's up on the #CannesXR reviewing *slab* today? [pun reveal incoming]. It's "Mary and the Monster", a boisterous re-imagining of the Frankenstein story [+ origins] with the emphasis on Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley as both the author & the embodiment of the monstrous other...
..."Mary and the Monster" is a rollicking VR meta-take [by @krislayng + team] on a familiar melodramatic tale, with a hat tip to both traditional stage production and a decent dollop of black comedy tinged with feminist-accented historicisation. Loved it.
Unfortunately the next work "Minimum Mass" co-written by @hydroxandhorlix [+ 1 I was most anticipating due to its tendril-creeping beyond its allocated @MuseumOR room] wasn't available, so like any stubborn XR-boffin I file-dived, found the .exe & did a manual playthrough…
...and even though I’m sure I didn’t get to experience #MinimumMass in its entirety, what I did love was its haunting narrative [interaction mechanics = great + different] centered on miscarriage, emotional ties, and the unavoidable weight [+ consequences] of grief.
Just experienced "In Event of Moon Disaster": an ingenious story-riff on the Apollo 11 moon landing and what could have happened if the mission hadn’t gone to plan [with a liberal dose of ‘beware what you watch’ warnings thrown in]...
...Using a mixture of [possibly] #ARG-inspired real and faked footage created in part with the use of #Deepfake tech, the story is told in a clever mocumentary style from a 50’s-ish squat brown TV, with a speech that Nixon *would* have delivered if things had gone awry.
Still in the #Tribeca Virtual Arcade wing of @MuseumOR and just finished "Fly", an evocative educational take [from @cmikkelborg + team] on the history of human flight from Leonardo da Vinci's attempts to a future-projected Speedbird hypersonic jet.
Although the pacing in “Fly” seemed fast for the impact of the lovely interactive moments to sink in, those moments were incredibly evocative – manually flying both the Wright brothers first plane to guiding a 1969 Concorde, these immersive snippets where a distinct highlight.
"Violence" is the first Cannes XR work that made me feel helpless, powerless to help both the character & the BLM movement. Not being able to move around the room to try to help break the panels was jaw-clenchingly frustrating, and if that’s the point it absolutely worked...
Also, on a 2nd playthrough of "Violence" to try to help break the panels, due to the chaperone boundaries I could only partially break a small number of the panels before – ironically – actually hitting the actual wall of my physical studio here...
“Violence” also left me wanting to know more about the research methodology behind the study associated with this incredibly visceral and reverberating work [+ also needing to check my privilege on so many lvls].
Already familiar with @queerskins and its heart-rending story, I was massively keen to see how the 2nd chapter, “#Queerskins: Ark” would be realised in 360 video form for #CannesXR/#Tribeca...[cont]
I also immediately gelled with the "#Queerskins: Ark" Exhibition room itself, with its familiar text-threading [a technique used extensively in our mezbreeze.itch.io/all-the-delica… ]...[cont]
Filled with encompassing audio + #volumetric spatials + elegant, balletic, and intimate animation of a velcroed-in-love dancing couple, the 360 video variation of “#Queerskins: Ark” doesn’t disappoint. Well done Illya + team!
Fecking hell at the wonder that is #TheGreatC. More about it when I've had time to absorb + reflect on it.
On this last day of the #CannesXR Exhibition, let's start with #TheGreatC. For a work that’s a few years old, this VR feature is astounding, a type of polished + technically wondrous spatial film. The lack of interactivity in #TheGreatC actually *adds* to the immersion...[cont]
...due to subtly and innovative crafting, while the risk it takes with locomotion/user shifting, scale transitions + spatial ellipsis thoroughly work. All up it's a sublime breakthrough experience + it’s no wonder #TheGreatC was awarded the @CannesXr @gopositron #VisionaryAward.
...while I think of it, I've used "spatials" a bit in this thread to demarcate VR objects/assets [like an alternative to terms like "imagery" or "visuals"]. Is there an accepted industry term for this? Anyone know? @JesseDamiani? @kentbye? @alexqgb? @DannyBittman? @Thebadlament?
... + it's about time for this I reckon: unroll, maestro @threadreaderapp!
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