What a year! When we first started assembling this fall’s issue, we were still debating what the word “metaverse” might mean. And now, people are buying yachts in it. The line between reality and representation is becoming ever-blurrier. How did we get here, and what does all of this mean for documentary practice?
You’ll find some answers in our Making the Metaverse issue, which also marks our fifth anniversary:
Is the metaverse just the Meta worst? Read all about it in this collection of articles from around the web.
Documentarians and journalists are simultaneously learning to master new production tools and to report responsibly on the social implications of VR, AR, AI, and virtual economies fed by NFTs and the blockchain. Abby Sun and Sarah Wolozin of Immerse tackled these challenges in a pair of panels at the Double Exposure Symposium, featuring insights from Sparsh Ahuja, Voleta Ayala, Robert Hernandez, Jesse Damiani, Kathryn Karaoglu Hamilton, and Andrew Wang.
In our new Q&A series, Virtual Production Bulletin — co-produced with the Co-Creation Studio — interviewer Srushti Kamat explores emerging documentary techniques and ethics. See the first two installments: on reality TV and gamification with Dark Slope Studios, and 3D models and fictionalized reenactments, with Deniz Tortum.
Despite all of the buzz, XR productions are notoriously hard for audiences to access. But, the pandemic is forcing festival programmers and performance spaces to experiment with a wider range of exhibition and distribution strategies. Much more is needed, argues UK-based researcher Richard Misek.
Must the metaverse be hyper-commercialized? A new generation of artists, activists and documentarians say no. MIT Open Doc Lab’s William Uricchio reports on how makers supported by IDFA DocLab are forging new forms of augmented public media, from audio, to projection mapping, to mobile apps and beyond.
Wildly popular, violent video games have set the tone and terms for building open worlds in the metaverse. But as Dan Schindel writes, activists and researchers are experimenting with ways to turn games such as World of Warcraft and Fortnite into venues for more peaceful interactions. To live and work online, though, we’ll still need better paradigms.
Sometimes, the best way to understand the metaverse is just to jump right in. That’s what the Immerse editorial collective did with the crew from Venice VR Expanded. Watch us world-hop through bespoke environments while wearing fanciful avatars, with festival curators Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac as our guides.
Plus: Don’t miss this excerpt on deepfakers’ tools of the trade from a new report, JUST JOKING! Deepfakes, Satire and the Politics of Synthetic Media, co-produced by Sam Gregory at WITNESS with Katerina Cizek at the Co-Creation Studio, and written by Henry Ajder and Joshua Glick.
We’re not done yet! Stay tuned for a few more stories on the metaverse in the new year. Meanwhile we hope your holidays are real swell and wishing you all the very best for 2022.
Happy New Year from all of us at Immerse!
What we’re reading and watching
Lance Weiler on using NFTs and the blockchain to aid in the creation of new media work.
Despite all the hype, 75% of NFTs sell for an average of just $15, according to a new study. This is a topic that seems to attract real friction across the creative community (much like the metaverse!) so we’ll pair this with a TED talk from Kayvon Tehranian that gives a more optimistic viewpoint.
Algorithms are changing how we experience nostalgia.
Authorship takes on an all-new meaning in games where the plot is yet to be written.
Conflict reporting goes virtual.
The year in New Yorker interactive storytelling.
New machine-learning system can generate a 3D scene from an image about 15,000 times faster than other methods.
Scatter’s James George on expressing our true likeness in the metaverse with volumetric video.
Projects we’re eyeballing
Underworld Radio is a 60-minute high-octane audio experience in near complete darkness. A few tickets available, NYC.
This Climate Does Not Exist uses AI to build a tool that lets you imagine the impact of the climate crisis we face, one address at a time.
Secret Cinema currently have tickets available for a virtual live experience of Ghostbusters: The Gates of Gozer. Available in GMT and EST timezones.
The Geography is an ambient video game where you ponder the planet’s future in the company of massive mountains and a great soundtrack.
MetaQuest (formerly Oculus) have a solid list of VR films you can experience right now.
Coming up
Festivals and events
As always the new year kicks off with Sundance from January 20 to 30, online and in-person. Check out the biodigital hybrid happenings at New Frontier.
MozFest is taking place virtually again, with some in-person events in Amsterdam, March 7-10. Get tickets now (free/donation).
Submission deadlines
Africa No Filter is partnering with Meta, Electric South and Imisi3D to fund XR work in Africa through the Future Africa grant. Deadline January 7.
Tribeca Immersive and Tribeca Games final deadlines are January 19.
Sheffield DocFest Alternate Realities late deadline is March 4.
Immerse is an initiative of MIT Open DocLab and Dot Connector Studio, and receives funding from Just Films | Ford Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. The Gotham Film & Media Institute is our fiscal sponsor. Learn more here. We are committed to exploring and showcasing emerging nonfiction projects that push the boundaries of media and tackle issues of social justice — and rely on friends like you to sustain ourselves and grow. Join us by making a gift today.
Publisher: Jessica Clark (Dot Connector Studio)
Editor: Abby Sun (MIT Open Doc Lab)
Associate Editor: Carrie McLaren (Dot Connector Studio)
Engagement Editor: Ngozi Nwadiogbu
Editorial Collective: Sarah Wolozin (MIT Open DocLab), Ingrid Kopp (Electric South), Kat Cizek (MIT Open DocLab)
Producer:Claudia Romano (MIT Open DocLab)
Editorial Board:
Zeina Abi Assy, Mark Atkin (Crossover Labs) , Ruthie Doyle (Sundance Film Institute), Caspar Sonnen (IDFA DocLab), Julia Scott-Stevenson, Amelia Winger-Bearskin