on the cover Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize: OTO’S PLANET by Gwenael François (Luxembourg, Canada, France)
by Alexandra Mas Ivancenco
Venice Immersive 2024, a unique celebration of virtual and augmented reality, returns as part of the renowned Venice International Film Festival, transforming the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio into a realm dedicated to the cutting edge of digital experience. Since its inception, Venice Immersive has claimed this atmospheric space within the Venetian Lagoon to showcase some of the most innovative VR and AR projects globally.
This year’s selection offers a rich tapestry of experiences, addressing social issues, artistic exploration, and visionary concepts through immersive technology. Curated by an expert team, the competition includes an array of world premieres from Europe to Japan, and beyond. These works reflect the global diversity of creators experimenting with immersive formats, while the prestigious out-of-competition category highlights VR and AR’s most acclaimed works. Together, these selections push the boundaries of storytelling, enabling audiences to engage in ways that traditional media can rarely achieve.
Venice Immersive 2024 not only brings new creative expressions to light but also fosters dialogue around the future of storytelling and technology with talks and animations during the two weeks of the Mostra. Each piece is carefully chosen by Venice Immersive’s curators to reveal fresh perspectives and invite viewers into fully interactive environments. Audiences can expect everything from personal narratives to explorations of complex global issues, all while navigating uniquely crafted virtual worlds.
For anyone following the evolution of digital media, Venice Immersive 2024 is an unmissable event, providing an exclusive opportunity to experience VR and AR at the highest level.
Turbulence : Jamais Vu – A Boundary-Breaking Sensorial Journey at Venice Immersive
Among the standout presentations at Venice Immersive this year, Turbulence : Jamais Vu, an extraordinary installation by visionary director Ben Joseph Andrews and co-creator Emma Roberts, stands out as a truly mind-bending experience. Unveiled in the out-of-competition section, this piece plunges audiences into a reality that feels both disorienting and enthralling, inviting participants to experience life with an inverted perception—a simulation inspired by real medical conditions where one’s perception of space and light undergoes a radical shift.
In Turbulence : Jamais Vu, reality flips: left becomes right, and light becomes dark, reversing familiar sensory cues. It’s an unsettling yet fascinating dive into the world of cognitive dissonance, a mental reorientation that requires the brain to adapt to a skewed sense of spatial and visual orientation. In this surreal environment, seemingly simple actions demand focused attention and recalibration. Participants are encouraged to touch, move, and interact with objects, engaging in basic tasks, which suddenly become intricate exercises in adaptation. This sensory upheaval not only challenges your brain but actively reshapes your interaction with the physical and virtual worlds around you.
I felt compelled to take it a step further and decided to draw, a spontaneous act that wasn’t part of the installation’s usual interaction. This unplanned exploration caught the creators by surprise, prompting them to approach me afterward to discuss it. This unexpected choice revealed new layers to the experience, highlighting how immersive environments invite unique, personal interpretations and actions. Given the chance, I could envision an entire performance of action drawing within it.
The experience feels fully alive, thanks to Andrews’ innovative approach to mixed and extended reality (XR). Known for his pioneering work at the intersection of VR, sensory environments, and performance art, Andrews – alongside Roberts – creates collective experiences that reach beyond individual VR headsets into the realm of multi-sensory immersion.
With installations featured at major festivals like Sundance, SXSW, and IDFA, Andrews’ work brings the physiological and emotional power of immersive media to the fore. Supported by his practice-led PhD at the University of Melbourne, Andrews’ research into sensory composition in XR enhances his ability to create visceral, full-bodied virtual spaces.
The attention to detail in Turbulence : Jamais Vu reveals itself not only in the precision of the technical design but also in the creators’ profound interest in the participant’s physiological response. Andrews’ research-led approach ensures that every element of disorientation feels deliberate and crafted to amplify the sensory challenge, transforming dissonance into a transcendent experience. Winner of the 2022 Best Direction for Immersive/Interactive by the Australian Directors Guild, Andrews continues to push the boundaries of XR with projects that explore human perception at its limits.
Turbulence : Jamais Vu is a compelling exploration into the malleability of human perception, providing insights into the ways our minds and bodies navigate altered realities. For anyone drawn to the future of immersive storytelling, this installation stands as a remarkable example of how XR can challenge, disorient, and expand the boundaries of our sensory experience.
Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis: Sentience – A Deep Dive into Fungal Intelligence at Venice Immersive
At Venice Immersive, Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis: Sentience offers an experience that plunges participants into a networked world of biological and technological connectivity. Created by the avant-garde collective Nanotopia, this installation bridges science, art, and immersive tech, combining real-time fungal biodata streams with EEG readings from participants. The result is a visceral environment where people don VR headsets and brainwave sensors to explore the microscopic connections pulsing within and around us.
In this expanded reality installation, Nanotopia has crafted an evolving soundscape fueled by living mycelium, which connects bio-electrically to the virtual environment. The mycelium, in particular, has been wired into a custom synthesizer, creating an organic, ever-shifting soundtrack that breathes in sync with the participants. This biofeedback loop between humans and fungi makes Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis: Sentience more than a passive VR experience; it’s a biologically integrated performance where participants’ own brain activity actively shapes the unfolding environment.
At the center of this experience is Ganoderma lucidum, commonly known as reishi mushroom, revered in Eastern medicine and thought to symbolize harmony and resilience. Through whimsical storytelling, the installation follows the narrative of this fungal star, highlighting its role as a mediator between symbiosis (harmonious connection) and dysbiosis (imbalance and discord). Live actors help carry this narrative, guiding participants through the shifting dynamics of symbiotic relationships, as the mycelium’s “voice” emerges from its interplay with the synthesizer. Participants are not merely observing this ecosystem; they’re integral to its function, their EEG responses and engagement subtly influencing the soundscape and visual environment around them.
This dynamic interaction emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living systems, reinforcing the notion that everything in nature -down to the microscopic threads of mycelium – participates in a larger, interdependent web of life. In Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis: Sentience, visitors experience firsthand the intimate, often unseen ways in which fungi connect to and influence their surroundings, reminding us that, on a molecular level, human and non-human life are entwined.
Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis: Sentience shows how immersive art can bridge biology and technology, turning scientific concepts into lived, sensory experiences. Through its fusion of biofeedback, VR, and live sound, Nanotopia’s installation offers a rare chance to explore the hidden intelligence of fungi and the delicate balance within our ecological systems, inviting us to reconsider our place within the web of life.
illustration by Boris Labbé – Ito Meikyū
A Celebration of Imagination and Innovation
The Venice Immersive competition at the Venice International Film Festival has concluded with three outstanding projects receiving the top honors, selected by a jury comprised of Celine Daemen (President), Marion Burger, and Adriaan Lokman. This year, 26 international projects competed, each offering unique and thought-provoking perspectives on immersive storytelling.
Venice Immersive Grand Prize: Ito Meikyū by Boris Labbé (France, Luxembourg)
The Venice Immersive Grand Prize was awarded to Ito Meikyū, directed by Boris Labbé, a complexe virtual reality journey that plunges participants into an infinite, labyrinthine world. This immersive experience explores profound themes of duality – interior versus exterior, transparency against opacity, feminine meeting masculine – creating a dynamic interplay of opposing elements within a boundless, cyclical maze. Life in Ito Meikyū is woven like a tapestry, with threads that metaphorically represent the paths, connections, and relationships that define human existence.
Drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese art and literature, including The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book, Ito Meikyū combines animated and sound scenes within a digital fractal labyrinth populated by flora, fauna, and intricate calligraphy. The creator’s use of the “thread metaphor” evokes the weaving principles of textile art, materializing on screen as delicate yet profound links between people and events. This rich, dreamlike experience could be likened to Spirited Away in its density and layered symbolism, offering viewers an artful sensory fresco that bridges drawing, architecture, and storytelling.
Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize: OTO’S PLANET by Gwenael François (Luxembourg, Canada, France)
see cover and illustration below
The Special Jury Prize was awarded to OTO’S PLANET, an interactive VR tale crafted by Gwenael François. This charming story follows the daily life of Oto, a quiet inhabitant of a tiny planet, and his tree-dwelling friend, Skippy. Oto’s life revolves around eating pink fruit and lounging in his hammock until, with the user’s assistance, he tries to grab a fruit and accidentally sets off a shockwave that draws the attention of Exo, an explorer whose ship crash-lands on the planet. Exo emerges and begins to explore the planet without regard for Oto’s presence, leading to a clumsy and humorous attempt at communication and cohabitation.
The creator describes OTO’S PLANET as an experience meant to feel familiar yet offbeat, inviting users into a whimsical narrative that addresses deeper themes through humor and simplicity. The tension between Oto’s gentle, easy-going personality and Exo’s assertive curiosity highlights issues of territory, belonging, and cooperation, subtly drawing parallels to darker chapters of human history, such as colonization and the imposition of borders. The VR experience becomes a charming exploration of the universal challenges of sharing space and embracing differences, presented in a lighthearted but thought-provoking way.
screen shot from OTO’S PLANET
