Hello friends, apologies for the delay since you last received a newsletter from Immerse. We have been working really hard and suddenly we looked up and it was April!
A note from our editor Abby Sun: Greetings from the first quarter of 2022! At Immerse, our latest issue is AI, etc. This issue is highlighted by a collaboration with the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture to issue a public statement in response to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy call for public comments about a proposed AI “bill of rights.” The purpose was to develop new measures to safeguard against harms caused by the use of facial recognition and other biometric AI technologies to identify people or assess their character. But AI technologies, as other pieces in this issue examine, have broad implication for the arts and the ways we make work, beyond the biometric.
Here’s what you may have missed:
Take a look at this compilation of reports and projects created by the signatories and community members who signed our public statement on AI.
Deniz Tortum looks at Runway and asks whether AI editing will change the way we see.
An interview with Philip Galler, Co-CEO of Lux Machina.
Dan Schindel asks whether priates can save nonfiction works and finds inspiration in the corner of the internet where torrent trackers, MEGA uploads and other bootleg networks thrive.
#mymuslimfilm in Extended Reality: spotlighting 11 artists whose practices span installations, AR, VR, games, interactive projects and more.
An interview with Charlie Shackleton about his desktop documentary-VR performance hybrid, “As Mine Exactly”.
What we’re reading and watching
David Olusoga on his plan to level up Britain – with the 3D internet and a Blackpool ‘queercoaster’.
An interview between Kent Bye and William Uricchio, recorded as part of IDFA DocLab’s 15th anniversary.
How can we make VR more accessible?
Second Life’s mistakes should inform today’s metaverse.
How Myst taught a generation of gamers to explore new worlds.
Dan Olson’s Line Goes Up - The Problem with NFTs is well worth your time (it is lengthy but packed with great insights). If you don’t have 2+ hours to spare you can read this interview with him instead. Pair all this with Web3.0: A Libertarian Dystopia if you need a laugh while you take in all the dystopian possibilities.
If you still feel like the world of crypto is confusing, Kevin Roose wrote a long piece called The Latecomers Guide to Crypto which might sound like just the ticket. But don’t get too comfortable! Molly White and some others felt like the piece was not nearly critical enough and produced The Edited Latecomers Guide to Crypto. You can hear Molly discuss this with Paris Marx on the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast, a podcast I highly recommend by the way.
Sorry to stay on the crypto party pooping theme but this article’s headline is so OMG I thought it was an April Fools joke: Worldcoin Promised Free Crypto If They Scanned Their Eyeballs With “The Orb.”
Projects we’re eyeballing
In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats is an interactive virtual reality experience by award-winning filmmaker Darren Emerson, inviting audiences to go in search of an illegal rave, one night in Coventry in 1989. It is currently available to see in Coventry as part of Coventry UK City of Culture.
If you want more great work to discover it’s worth revisiting Lance Weiler’s 2021 list of 50+ Immersive Things that mix storytelling, performance, play, design & code.
Coming up
Festivals and events
Digital Dozen Breakthrough in Storytelling Awards take place on April 13 online. Sign up to join.
Amelia Winger-Bearksin has organized a symposium on AI and Interactions with Society. It will take place at the University of Florida on April 14 and will also be livestreamed on Zoom. Free to attend but you need to register.
UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is a celebration of creativity, taking place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and online from March to October 2022.
Submission deadlines
Venice Gap-Financing Market has a category for immersive projects. Deadline May 7.
Venice International Film Festival immersive project submissions deadline is May 31.
IDFA DocLab is open for project submissions. Deadline June 28.
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)
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