Archives

2023

Into the Chrysalis

Newsletter | May 2023

Why the Immerse Team is Taking Some Time Inside the Goo by Jessica Clark and Immerse Editorial Collective, Publisher

Illustrating Reality in an Imaginary 3D World A behind-the-scenes look at Pedro Harres’ interactive and immersive animated film From The Main Square by Sarah Wolozin

TED 2023: Possibilities in Artificial Intelligence and Creativity by Julie Fukunaga, Editor

Disability Justice, Tech & Access

Newsletter | January 2023

Newsletter | March 2023

About the Issue: Disability Justice, Tech & Access by Julie Fukunaga, Editor

Into the Museum of Austerity Accessibility, iteration and lessons learned from Director Sacha Wares and team by Joanna Wright

Blind in 2040: Specs on Deck: A day-in-the-life of you, a blind person in 2040, assisted by a pair of high-tech augmented reality glasses called Specs by Dylan Fox

How Innovation Sets Me Backwards: Tech that could be enabling me is impairing me instead — a personal essay from technologist and cyborg Aubrie Lee by Aubrie Lee

How Can Art Reach Out and Touch Us? A primer on haptic tech innovation and new possibilities for access in dance from award-winning dancer, choreographer and designer Laurel Lawson by Laurel Lawson

“Words in Noise”: Looking for a Deaf Voice Amidst the Noise An interview with artist, scholar, musician Frank Mondelli and their subversive re-imagining of the hearing exam by Julie Fukunaga

VR Beyond Sight: How the Blind Burners opened pathways for non-visual access to virtual reality — from Burning Man to beyond by Harsha Balasubramanian/Chris Hainsworth, on behalf of Blind Burners

Embodiment as an Entry Point — At the Intersections of Art, Tech & Care An interview with multisensory artist Salima Punjani on fostering intimate connection in immersive art installations by seeley quest

Make Medicine Sick On disability, access and Apple’s ad “The Greatest” by Leora Fridman

2022

Avatars, Assets & Access

Newsletter | May— August 2022

Newsletter | Oct 2022

Newsletter | Dec 2022

About the Issue: Avatars, Assets & Access by Julie Fukunaga, Editor

The Art of Avatar Creation by Dan Schindel

What You Can Actually Do in the Metaverse Right Now by Axe Binondo

The Solitary Location of the Self How can we access avatars from an object-oriented perspective? by Hanna Haaslahti

This Artist Experimented with Digital Technology Decades Before it was Cool A profile of Elaine Hindin, TikTok’s 85-year-old crypto-influencer by Dora Segall

So, Should Documentary Makers Care About NFTs? An interview with Yao Huang, the founder of The Hatchery by Jessica Clark, Publisher

The Rise of Synthetic Audio in Documentary Films Examining the use of AI voice models by Dan Schindel

What if You Could Bring Your Loved Ones Back From the D.E.A.D.? Guidelines for ethical virtual resurrection of the “working dead” by Whatever Inc.

ONGOING COVERAGE

Worlding: Game Environments Meet Climate Futures by Mrinalini Singha

Creating Community in Hybrid Festivals: Executive Summary of Creating Community in Hybrid Festivals, research for IDFA DocLab in 2021/22 by Sarah Wolozin

Revealing Reality in Imaginary 3D Worlds — Part 2 by Sarah Wolozin

Revealing Reality in Imaginary 3D Worlds — Part 1 by Sarah Wolozin

Augmenting Reality — Or distracting from it? by Jessica Fiala

A Mosaic of Collective Memory by Sunayana Mohanty

Documentary Production’s New Normal by Dan Schindel

The Future of the Hybrid Film Festival by Sarah Wolozin

The Untapped Potentials of Documentary in Augmented Reality by Dan Schindel

AI-Restoration in the Film Archive by Deniz Tortum

What Climate Will Exist? by Deniz Tortum

Field Notes: Learning Hybridity at CPH:DOX A festival dispatch covering the INTER:ACTIVE symposium and exhibition. by Richard Misek

The Future of Streaming Documentary: An interview on documentary platform politics in the Netflix Era by Dan Schindel

Field Notes: “The Discord is Forever” Festival highlights from Eyeo’s 10th (and final) convening by Jessica Fiala

Vicarious Gaming: “Experiencing” as a new dimension of modern gaming by Dan Schindel

Virtual Production Bulletin: An Interview with Todd Bryant, NYU and Rashin Fahandej, Emerson College by Srushti Kamat

AI, etc. Issue

Newsletter | April 6, 2022

A Glimpse Into The Burgeoning World of AI Arts and Media

A Collaborative Proposal for a United States AI Bill of Rights

Will AI Editing Change How We See? by Deniz Tortum

The Rise of Synthetic Audio in Documentary Films: Examining the use of voice models from “Val” to “The Andy Warhol Diaries” by Dan Schindel

ONGOING COVERAGE

Virtual Production Bulletin: Srushti Kamat interviews Philip Galler, Co-CEO of Lux Machina

Can Pirates Save Nonfiction Works? by Dan Schindel

#mymuslimfilm in Extended Reality: Spotlighting 11 artists whose practices span installations, AR, VR, games, interactive projects and more.

Strengthening Bonds: Milton Guillen B interviews Charlie Shackleton about his desktop documentary-VR performance hybrid, “As Mine Exactly”

2021

Fifth Anniversary Issue: Making the Metaverse

Newsletter | December 31, 2021

Intro by Katerina Cizek

Is the Metaverse Just the Meta Worst? by Ingrid Kopp

Field Notes: “Making the Metaverse” Panels at 2021 Double Exposure Symposium by Ambar Reyes

Virtual Production Bulletin: 3D Models and Fictionalized Reenactments An interview with documentarian Deniz Tortum by Srushti Kamat

Field Notes: Objects of Reverence How UK arts institutions struggle to address exclusion in on-site VR exhibition by Richard Misek

Augmentation as Public Media by William Uricchio

Fighting Worlds: Is it possible to design a nonviolent metaverse based off open-world combat games? by Dan Schindel

Virtual Production Bulletin (new series)

Virtual Production Bulletin: Reality TV and Gamification by Shrushti Kamat

Virtual Land Grabs: Doorways to Independent Futurism by Pamela Cohn

Jumping into the Metaverse: Video from pioneering VRChat documentarian Joe Hunting recording the Immerse x Venice VR Expanded world hop (9/21) by Immerse

ONGOING COVERAGE Newsletter | September 9, 2021

Ambar Reyes interviews Tamiko Thiel on the guerrilla potential of AR, dramatic arcs, and the politics of visibility.

Sarah Wolozin interviews Lara Baladi on the politics of public spaces, documenting protest movements, and AR as a way of healing collective trauma.

Playing with Reality Issue

Newsletter | July 16, 2021

Our Newest Issue: Playing with Reality by Abby Sun, Editor

Enter The Data Dungeon: Sex Work & Digital Domination by Lena Chen

Behind DREAMFEEL’s Curtain by Julie Fukunaga

A Game Without Players Can Still Be Played by Linda H. Codega

Beyond Calculable Actions by Nicholas O’Brien

Screen Tactics by Kevin B Lee

Home Movie: The Official Player’s Guide by Duncan Bass

Playing Your Way to a Better Story by Jessica Clark

ONGOING COVERAGE Newsletter | May 21, 2021

Transmedia at the Intersections by Claudia Romano

“Hungry for Contact:” Beyond the Breakdown by Lauren Lee McCarthy

Field Notes: Center Stage at the First “BPMplus Showcase” by April Dobbins

Publics Issue

Newsletter | Quick update on what we’re reading and watching.

Our Newest Issue: Publics by Abby Sun, Editor
In the Light of Memory: Surveying recent social media archives of street projections that subvert official narratives in South America by Diego Cerna Aragon
Ceremonial Complex: An interview with Postcommodity on hacking soundscapes and Indigenous technological self-determination by Julie Fukunaga
DM for Collabs: I posted to Instagram as an aging robot — here are some responses I received by Ziv Schneider
“You feel, in that moment, you are sitting next to them!” Exploring audience responses to virtual reality nonfiction in the home by Mandy Rose & David Green
Public by Proxy: A roundtable conversation with the creators of A DIY Guide to Proxy Protest on disability rights, interdependency, and the politics of visibility by Lara Chapman
This Concrete Pavement is Talking to Me: Speculative nonfictions and Augmented Reality in public space by Amy Rose
Augmented Audio Realities: James T. Green adapts a talk given at UnionDocs’ 2020 Podcast School, exploring time and space in experiential stories by James T. Green
Chipping Away at the Earth: A conversation with curator, film scholar, and place-maker Greg de Cuir Jr. on desktop cinema aesthetics, handmade digital exhibitions, and the metaverse now

ONGOING COVERAGE

Insights from six Sundance New Frontier artists featured on the “Brown Girls and the New Frontier” panel by Ngozi Nwadiogbu
Immersive Highlights 2020: 26 creators, curators, and researchers recommend immersive projects from last year Compiled by Matt MacVey

2020

Issue #38

Newsletter | So long, 2020!

Why Immersive? On the historic link between immersive media and fascist propaganda by Carrie McLaren
Finding the Story: User experiences of immersive media at IDFA’s DocLab by William Uricchio

Issue #37: PHI Center Special Issue

Newsletter | Designed and produced by PHI in collaboration with Immerse, the Emergence issue traces the virtual and hybrid approaches, research, and conversations initiated by Montreal’s PHI through multiple COVID-19 related lockdowns.

Building on Experience by Phoebe Greenberg
The Diffusion of XR and New Digital Paradigms A dialogue with Michel Reilhac and Myriam Achard
Moving Towards, Moving Between by Daniel Fiset
Glitch as Wormhole nènè myriam konaté and Lucas LaRochelle
“Prepare, Don’t Panic” for Deepfakes A summary of key insights from Deepfakery by Srushti Kamat
Field Notes: Space-Making at Venice VR Expanded by Andrea Kim
Emergent Storytelling in the New Age of Social AR by Andrea Kim

Issue #36: New tools for creation and inclusion

Newsletter |The latest news from Immerse and what we’re reading and watching.

Issue #35: Solitary confinement

Newsletter | To gain some perspective on 2020, we turned to the makers of experiences about solitary confinement.

Virtually Confined A maker discusses her work on life in isolation and connecting with others through technology by Francesca Panetta
Gentrification and Social Confinement after Prison An interview with Zahra Rasool, creator of VR film Still Here by Andrea Kim
Open Doc Lab curates a Docubase playlist of projects about confinement by MIT Open Documentary Lab & Co-Creation Studio
Documentary at the Crossroads: Source Guide by Joshua Glick
The World Is 3D and Media Should Be Too Nonny de la Peña reflects on her experience as a VR pioneer. by Sarah Wolozin
Climate Conversations Part 2 Bronwin Patrickson and Tom White discuss urban design, video game realism, and 360 video in Nepal by Julia Scott-Stevenson

Issue #34: Touch and isolation

Newsletter | To grapple with the stark realities of the pandemic, we bring you an issue focused on recalibration and gaining perspective.

The Dangers and Pleasures of Touch and (Dis)Embodiment: A conversation with interactive storyteller Illya Szilak by Pamela Cohn
Models of Sustainability for Immersive Media by Sarah Wolozin

Responding to the pandemic

Newsletter | Immerse announces its new Slack channel for public discussion related to the pandemic.

Collective Amnesia: 5 lessons from “new media” during the 1918 waves of Influenza and racial terror by Katerina Cizek
Covid-19 and Immersive Creatives Three Months In Paisley Smith interviews artists about their pandemic experiences: Raqi Syed and Areito Echevarria, Stephanie Dinkins, Nancy Lee, and Diego Galfassi.
Distributing Immersive Stories at Virtual Festivals by Kent Bye

Issue #33: Festivals go virtual

Newsletter | For our colleagues at Sundance, we’re sharing a few articles about the Guild of Future Architect’s inaugural Future Imagination Summit.

Force Majeure: When you have six days to put a documentary festival online by Mark Atkin
Climate Conversations: Lizzie Warren and Michaela French discuss immersive documentary and ecological emergency
No Vantage Point: An artist reflects on audio’s entanglement with environments by Duncan Speakman
Let’s Not Forget the Climate Crisis by MIT Open Documentary Lab & Co-Creation Studio
How Are Museums Experimenting with Immersive Technology? A follow-up with Knight Foundation grantees by Claudia Romano
What Role Does Emotion Play in Data Visualization? by Catherine D’Ignazio
What I Learned About Reality in VR by Eva Wolfangel

Responding to the pandemic

Newsletter | Right now, human connection matters more than any project we might be working on or product we might dream up.

Distributing Immersive Stories at Virtual Festivals by Kent Bye
Immersive Creatives and the Impact of Covid-19 by Paisley Smith
Join us to talk about how you are coping with life and work during the pandemic by Jessica Clark
Time to Love the Web Again Collective Wisdom in a time of Covid-19 crisis by Katerina Cizek
The Corona Haikus Collaborative Project by Sandra Gaudenzi
#LearnFightLove A response to cultural event cancellations caused by Coronavirus by Patricia Finneran
Interface Everywhere: Somatic Shock and Post-Pandemic Interfaces by Jessica Clark

Issue #32: Embodiment, part 2

Newsletter | What are the costs of extraction — of both scarce natural resources, and human stories? This issue considers our responsibilities as both media makers and humans inhabiting an increasingly fragile planet.

Against Extraction: Situated Storytelling as Relational Transformation by Marisa Morán Jahn
Somatics and Surveillance in Embodied Technologies by Anna Henson
25 Years of Internet: It’s Broken, but We Can Fix It by Paulien Dresscher
Interface Everywhere: What Are the Aesthetics of a Better Future? by Jessica Clark
The Artist-Engineer in VR In conversation with Xin Liu and Qinya Guo by Andrea Kim
New Frontiers at Sundance Film Festival Human touch, social space, archiving for the future, and more by Andrea Kim
Immersive Non-Fiction Highlights of 2019 by Matt MacVey

2019

Issue #31: Embodiment, part 1

Newsletter | In this issue we consider embodiment — especially when it comes to the female body — in an environment saturated by emerging media and technologies.

The Role of Experiential Design in an Increasingly Disconnected Society Designing for Connection to Self, Other and Nature by Damian Madray
The Body, Sonic Art, and Limitless Possibilities An interview with artist Rachel Devorah by Claudia Romano
Q&A: Arnaud Dressen of Wonda VR The CEO and founder discusses how to navigate transitions in the immersive documentary field, sharing industry trends and insights by Andrea Kim

Collective Wisdom:

Better Living Through Microbes: Artist WhiteFeather Hunter creates beautiful things by growing bacteria, chatting with bugs, and collecting menstrual blood Interview by Katerina Cizek
Building Irreverent and Intersectional Products for Women: The “Make the Breast Pump Not Suck” Hackathon by Samuel R. Mendez
StoryShift: Exploring Accountable Storytelling Samuel R. Mendez
Fostering Community Power Amid Systemic Challenges Five Media-Makers of Color Speak Out, Part V
How Do Media Practitioners Co-Create Well? Risks and lessons from the Collective Wisdom field study

Issue #30: AI and its discontents

Newsletter | We’re publishing this issue to coincide with IDFA’s DocLab, where many of our colleagues are gathered this week.

Weapons of Perception Ivan Sigal and Sam Gregory discuss copycat war images, social media violence, and the push-pull between activists, tech giants, and states
AI and Documentary: Defining Our Terms Part 1 and Part II: Exploring AI at IDFA’s DocLab by William Uricchio
Antecedent Technology: Don’t colonize our future by Amelia Winger-Bearskin
Trust Me, I’m an Algorithm: Debunking the human-machine, co-authoring the future by Paulien Dresscher
Collective Wisdom’s Spectrum of Collaboration (graphic)

Issue #29: Building better future worlds

Newsletter | Michelle Cortese and Andrea Zeller share what they have discovered about combatting harassment in VR, drawing solutions from body sovereignty and consent ideology to propose new controls, gestures, and codes of conduct.

Designing Safer Social VR: Using the ideology of sexual consent to make social VR a better place by Michelle Cortese and Andrea Zeller
Interface Everywhere: Can Sci-Fi Shape the Interface of Our Afterlives? A Conversation with Caitlin Burns About Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Jessica Clark
Beacon: Digital art in forests and caves, art and science in Singapore, simulations as art, a passionate curator, and Aboriginally determined research and practice in Canada by Ingrid Kopp
Field Notes: The Making of A Vixen’s Tale by Alex Book
Field Notes: When VR Does Cinema Observations from Festival du Nouveau Cinéma by Philippe Bédard
Field Notes: Why It’s Time for “Retrocycling” How one artist carved a path through obsolete technologies Yucef Merhi
Enter Sacred Hill: An afternoon with Klasien van de Zandschulp and Ali Eslami by Paulien Dresscher
What Can the First Years of VR Nonfiction Tell Us About Its Future? by Chris Bevan

Collective Wisdom:

Unpacking the Complex Roles of Media Makers of Color Five Media-Makers of Color Speak Out, Part IV
Design Gets a Reboot Paolo Cardini discusses how designing for a more equitable future requires a new process
Co-Creating a Map of Queer Experience: An interview with Lucas LaRochelle

Issue #28: VR research

Newsletter | Don your specs and sharpen your pencils, because we’re getting studious in this issue of Immerse!

Virtual Realities: Immersive Documentary Encounters by Mandy Rose
A Broken Empathy Machine? Can virtual reality increase pro-social behaviour and reduce prejudice? by Dr. Harry Farmer
Interface Everywhere: How Other Forms Inform Nonfiction Narrative by Jessica Clark
How One Podcasting Duo is Re-Making Documentary An interview with the creators of Ear Hustle, Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor by Carrie McLaren
VIFF Immersed and the Role of the Film Festival in Emerging XR by Caitlin Burns
Our Brave New World: Festivals as Labs by Paulien Dresscher

Collective Wisdom:

A Report-Out from the Venice Film Festival by Katerina Cizek
Meet Co-Creation Studio’s new Mozilla Fellow: Amelia Winger-Bearskin

Issue #26/#27: Immersive tech in art

Newsletter part I and part II | This special double-issue focused on immersive tech in arts institutions. Sponsored by the Knight Foundation, it aims to examine the question: In what new ways might museums and cultural institutions engage audiences through immersive experiences?

For a full list of these articles, see our Arts Institutions and Immersive Tech page.

Collective Wisdom series:

Speculations and Questions at Visible Evidence by Patricia R. Zimmermann, with Reece Auguiste, Helen De Michiel, Brenda Longfellow, Dorit Naaman
How Can This Work Be Better Honored and Supported? Five Media-Makers of Color Speak Out, Part III
Collective Wisdom at the First Ever Climate Story Lab By Katerina Cizek
Co-Creation Requires New Roles for Directors and Producers
Retrospective: Wheelchair Travel and Co-Creation By Kunho Kim
Statement on MIT, Media Lab and Epstein From MIT Open Documentary Lab and Co-Creation Studio

Issue #25: Collective Wisdom

Newsletter | Why co-create and why now? In this issue, we showcase the launch of a new field study published by the Co-Creation Studio at the MIT Open Documentary Lab: Collective Wisdom: Co-creating Media within Communities, across Disciplines and with Algorithms.

Introducing Our Series on Collective Wisdom: FAQ
Interactive Graphic: Co-Creation and Associated Practices
In Conversation: Co-Creation and Equity Five Media-Makers of Color Speak Out, Part I
Can Humans Co-Create with Algorithms?
Interface Everywhere: Why Journalists Should Care About Collective Wisdom by Jessica Clark
Community, Art, and AI: An Interview with Stephanie Dinkins
A Conference for Choreographic Interfaces by Sydney Skybetter
Beacon: Nigerian XR, civil society research, cross-artform collaboration, immersive media in China, and public media innovation by Ingrid Kopp
Interface Everywhere: Immersive Monsters, High and Low by Jessica Clark

Issue #24: VR and distribution

Newsletter | If the emerging ecosystem for distributing and marketing VR/AR/XR/MR documentary and art seems elusive to you, you’re not alone.

Building It as We Go: How do we continue to grow distribution and exhibition of virtual reality? by Ingrid Kopp
Interface Everywhere: Mixed Reality — So now what are we getting ourselves into? Jessica Clark
Artists Will Create the New Models of Distribution in Immersive Media An interview with Fred Volhuer by Sarah A. Wolozin
Beacon: Joburg tinkerers, wildly imaginative creations, AI thoughtfulness, UK funding opportunities, and VR in India by Ingrid Kopp
Captured by Lori Landay
Designing Flux by Suvi Andrea Helminen
Almost Human: Goodbye Uncanny Valley by Or Fleisher

Issue #23: What’s immersive good for?

Newsletter | What’s immersive media good for anyway? This is a question that inspired us to found Immerse, and one that weaves through every issue. This time, we put it square in the crosshairs.

Virtual Futures: A Manifesto for Immersive Experiences by Julia Scott-Stevenson
Interface Everywhere: Cases in Search of Uses and Vice Versa by Jessica Clark
Field Notes: At Sundance, Excitement, Anxiety, and an Ecosystem in the Making by Sarah A. Wolozin
Doing Inclusion, Making Strong VR Experiences by Samuel R. Mendez
Beacon: Thinking through practice, (really) extreme immersion, Shakespeare re-imagined, VR podcasting, and challenging biased algorithms by Ingrid Kopp
The Body in the Machine by Josefina Buschmann
Family2Family: First Steps by shirin anlen

Issue #22: Disability

Newsletter | Art, science, and subjectivity — these are the three elements that Enactlab intertwined to collaboratively produce the documentary Natural Disorder, a story about what it’s like to live with cerebral palsy.

Taking Back Agency: Co-creating a narrative about living with cerebral palsy by Kristian Martiny
Disability, Digital, and Disruption Tasting sound, feeling stars, haptic fish — how artists with disabilities are re-imagining art and tech by Jo Verrent
This Is the Story of the Space between People by Julia Scott-Stevenson
Beacon: Delicious VR, accessible gaming, the alchemy and chemistry of good design, a conference for creative technologists, and the lyrical work of an incredible Australian artist

2018

Issue #21: Audio in emerging media

Newsletter | We wrap up 2018 with a focus on immersive audio.

Sound That Surrounds: A Reflection on Immersive Audio in Three Movements with Andrew Demirjian, Halsey Burgund, and Rashin Fahandej
Field Notes: Pan-terrestrial People’s Anthem by Andrew Demirjian
Field Notes: From Here to Where by Halsey Burgund
Field Notes: A Father’s Lullaby by Rashin Fahandej
Sonifying the World: Has “Audio AR” finally found its moment? by Francesca Panetta
Beatie Wolfe and the Art of Retro Innovation by Joe Shepter
Humanity and Technology Are Never Separate by Charity Everett
History Reborn through XR by Lance G Powell Jr
Is There a Place in Human Consciousness Where Surveillance Cannot Go? Noor: a Brain Opera by Ellen Pearlman
Beacon: Digital arts in Africa, Australian interactive comics, food sensplorations and vibrant projects by artists with disabilities by Ingrid Kopp

Issue #20: Constraint

Newsletter | What we’re reading and watching — and more!

Creativity in Constraint: Why less can be more in digital storytelling by Eran Hadas
Inevitable Haptics: An Immerse Response by David Parisi
Civil Just Launched. Will it Fly? A Q&A with Vivian Schiller, CEO of the Civil Foundation
Beacon: Design with an African focus, truly immersive storytelling, futurist imaginings, incubation spaces, and making sense of big data. by Ingrid Kopp
Nothing About Us Without Us: Lessons from the #MoreThanCode Report
Field Notes: Why We Started No Proscenium, and What You’ll Find There by Noah J. Nelson
Double Exposure: October 10–14, 2018 by Diana Schemo, Founder and Co-director

Issue #19: Participation

Newsletter | Helen De Michael and Patricia R. Zimmerman discuss their book, Open Space New Media Documentary, and how projects can create opportunities for moving beyond the screen into public gathering spaces.

What is Open Space New Media Documentary? A conversation with authors Helen De Michiel and Patricia R. Zimmermann
Field Notes: Journalism 360 Unconference by Carrie McLaren
Beacon: Remixing identities, a robot bartender, magicians in residence by Ingrid Kopp
Happy Hacking! How the gift economy helped me build the team for my interactive doc by Anandana Kapur
When Machines Look for Order in Chaos by Shirin Anlen
Deep Media Binge-worthy narratives by Jessica Clark

Issue #18: Decentralized narrative

Newsletter | Learn how you can tell if you’re inside a decentralized story-space, how today’s native interactive producers are working from their own cultural traditions, and why wampum might have been the earliest form of bitcoin.

Before Everyone Was Talking About Decentralization, Decentralization Was Talking to Everyone by Amelia Winger-Bearskin
From the Storyteller from the Present to the Storyteller from the Future An Immerse Response by Eliza Capai
Beacon: Shine a Light by Ingrid Kopp
Democratizing Imagination Through New Media Design A response to Making a New Reality by Claudia Maneka Maharaj

Issue #17: Back to the Future

Newsletter | Our latest issue contains valuable intel from the Storyteller from the Future (aka Karen Palmer), who explains how her emotionally responsive film RIOT uses facial recognition, behavioral psychology, and a bit of parkour philosophy to prepare us for our forthcoming surveillance state.

Your Future Needs You: Why Your Survival Is in the Stories You Tell Each Other by Story Teller from the Future
Alternate Realities at Sheffield Doc/Fest Julia Scott-Stevenson
Random Chaos of the Universe, as Seen Through the Eyes of Orphaned Koreans by Glenn Morey
Immersive Media: Lost (and Found) in Space by Jessica Clark
How Art Programs Drive Innovation at ThoughtWorks by Andrew McWilliams

Issue #16: VR empathy takedown

Newsletter | Are VR makers flying too close to the sun with their claims about generating empathy?

Dismantling the Metrics of Empathy (in 360 video) by Dan Archer
Tribeca Immersive: Experiencing the obvious is work By Patricia Aufderheide
Live Sketching VR’s Future (from the Past) by Dan Archer
Field Notes: XR Journalism at SXSW by Marcus Bösch
Deep Reads: Research roundup
Design for Justice, Well-Being, and Prosperity Part 7 in Making a New Reality by Kamal Sinclair

Issue #15: Haptics

Newsletter | Can digital sensations ever rival the power of human touch? In this issue, Immerse editor Jessica Clark examines the rise of haptic storytelling.

Do You Feel What I Feel? The rise of haptic storytelling by Jessica Clark
Beyond Heaven and Hell: How to tell better stories about AI An Immerse response by Joanna Zylinska
Flâneurs in the (Illegal) Drug Industry: How to render the complexity of drug trafficking in an interactive documentary by Davide Banis
Boundary Issues Part 6 in Making a New Reality by Kamal Sinclair
The Uncertain Nature of the Digital Truth An Immerse response by Carles Sora
Deep Reads: Should storytellers care about blockchain? by Jessica Clark
Begin By Listening An Immerse response by Detroit Narrative Agency

Issue #14: Avatars

Newsletter | Hold onto your avatars, folks! This issue’s feature story from interactive curator and producer Mark Atkin on digitizing humans will leave you wondering who owns your 3D depictions, and what it means to use real people to spread false information.

Human Assets: The Promise and Dread of Digitising Humans by Mark Atkin
The Evolution of Testimony: Using VR to create a space of deep listening on sexual assault by Zohar Kfir
Field Notes: TFI’s Immigration Co/Lab by Zeina Abi Assy
Field Notes: Stories of surveillance at MIT’s Open Doc Lab by Brett Gaylor, Mozilla
Silos, Groupthink and Knowledge Ghettos Part 4 in Making a New Reality by Kamal Sinclair
Industry Analysis: Internet of Things from Making a New Reality by Kamal Sinclair

Issue #13: Artificial Intelligence

Newsletter | We’re kicking off the new year with a double issue written and edited entirely by women about a topic dominated by men — artificial intelligence.

Feeling at Home: Between Human and AI by Lauren McCarthy
Deep Reads #13 On engaging with AI
Why We Need to Start Talking About the Mental States of Our Machines by Shirin Anlen
Five AI Tools for Interactive Storytellers by Shirin Anlen
Emerging Media Industry Analysis #1: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by Kamal Sinclair
Challenging the Innovator Stereotype: Post #2 in the Making a New Reality series by Kamal Sinclair
Field Notes: Good Pitch Goes Local by Patricia Finneran
Field Notes: What’s New With VR in the Newsroom? by Jessica Clark

2017

Issue #12: Making a New Reality

Newsletter | We’re very pleased to launch a series of posts from Kamal Sinclair about her research on ways to foster equality in emerging media, with support articles available on the Making a New Reality site.

The High Stakes of Limited Inclusion Post #1 in the Making a New Reality series by Kamal Sinclair
Turning Point: Emerging Media and Social Justice Philanthropy by Cara Mertes
Why the Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Devastating for Immersive Media by Charity Everett
Such High Stakes. There’s the Matter of the Internet. And Decolonize. An Immerse response by Katerina Cizek
Field Notes: Interactivity at IDFA by Pat Aufderheide

Issue #11: Privacy

Newsletter | Immerse sits down with Brett Gaylor and Sandra Rodriguez to find out how the interactive documentary series Do Not Track has evolved, and what producers can do to protect their own privacy and that of their audiences.

Always On: How Should Digital Producers Navigate Privacy? Interview with Mozilla’s Brett Gaylor and MIT Open Doc Lab’s Sandra Rodriguez
Field Notes: Photography Expanded Magnum Foundation
Deep Reads #11 On watching the watchers
Making a New Reality: Furthering Equality in Emerging Media by Kamal Sinclair

Issue #10: Interactive documentary

Newsletter | This issue is curated by the editors of i-Docs: The Evolving Practices of Interactive Documentary.

Editor’s Note on Issue #10 by Jessica Clark
Why Do I-Docs Matter? by Sandra Gaudenzi
Emplaced Interaction and Interactive Documentary: An Immerse response, by Judith Aston
Designing I-Docs for the Classroom by Liz Miller
New Frontiers for Online Persuasion — and the Role of the Documentary Storyteller by Ben Moskowitz
Co-Creating with the Invisible Women of Delhi by Anandana Kapur

Issue #9: Access to emerging media

Newsletter | We’ve got a set of interviews featured at SXSW about the role of women in immersive media, and highlights from the Allied Media Conference.

Who Is VR For? by Ingrid Kopp
Who Is VR For? Maybe for Me and My Mom An Immerse response by Frisly Soberanis
Why Would We Want One Truth? The female gaze in interactive documentary by Harmke Heezen
Field Notes: Allied Media Conference by Sarah A. Wolozin
Deep Reads #9 On diversifying digital storytelling

Issue #8: Why fund VR?

Newsletter | Diana Barrett, the founder and president of The Fledgling Fund (which supports Immerse) discusses why she funds VR.

Virtual Reality: A Funder’s Perspective by Diana Barrett
Into the Sensorium An Immerse response by Jessica Clark
10 Questions for VR Funders An Immerse response
Hacking VR: Six Conversations Video interviews in collaboration with MIT Open Doc Lab
Deep Reads #8 On what makes for good VR

Issue #7: Preservation

Newsletter | This month’s Immerse is all about preservation.

The Disappearance Act: On Preserving Non-Fiction Interactives by Erwin Verbruggen
Preserving Digital Fossils An Immerse response by Ersin Han Ersin
Deep Reads #7 On archiving interactives

Issue #6: Local Storytelling

Newsletter | This month in Immerse, we learn what it took to create the 15-city multimedia project Localore: Finding America.

Adventures in Making Stories With and for the People 15 Routes to Finding America by Sue Schardt
Slowing Down and Deep Collaborations: More Adventures in Making Stories With and For the People An Immerse response by Bryan Mercer
Quick Q&A With Ingrid Kopp, Storyscapes Programmer
Field Notes: Codes & Modes Symposium
Deep Reads #6 On location-based stories

Issue #5: Journalism Labs

Newsletter | This month we take a look at the myriad ways that news labs are experimenting with immersive storyforms.

Booting Up Immersive News Labs by Aleszu Bajak
Investment in Innovation Should Strive to Make the Whole Newsroom “The Lab” An Immerse response by Sam Ford
Deep Reads #5 On new storyforms in news
Quick Q&A Lam Thuy Vo, Open Lab Fellow for BuzzFeed News

Issue #4: Digital Solidarity

Newsletter | How can digital platforms help users stand shoulder-to-shoulder with activists at the front lines of protest?

How Virtual Communities Could Enable Real Solidarity by Doug Bierend
“Real solidarity” Isn’t the Problem. Effective Action Is. An Immerse response by Ethan Zuckerman
Beyond Tweets and Streets: Standing up to Hate An Immerse response by Patrice O’Neill
Immerse Stands Against the Muslim Ban
Deep Reads #4 On digital solidarity

2016

Issue #3: Futurism and Storytelling

Newsletter | We need some new futures pronto. Our third issue of Immerse considers how to craft braver and more relevant accounts of what comes next — no matter which platform you’re on.

This Is the Moment for Visionary Narratives There is how we tell a story, and then there is the story we tell. by adrienne maree brown
Building Visionary Non-fiction By, About and for Our Communities An Immerse response by Michele Stephenson
How Can We Use New Storytelling Tools to Explore Visionary Futures? An Immerse response by M. Asli Dukan
Please Pass the Chocolates Audio producer and transmedia artist Karen Michel has some tough questions about the types of futures being touted.
So You Want to Be a Futurist? Field Notes: Immerse reports from the Future Today Summit
Deep Reads #3 On telling better stories about the future

Issue #2: The History and Future of Transmedia

Newsletter | We are all thinking deeply about the recent election, the role of media, the work that we do, and the work that now needs to be done, more urgently than ever.

How Will the Election Change Our Work? An Immerse Reflection by Jessica Clark
What’s Happened to Transmedia? by Andrea Phillips
Transmedia What? by Henry Jenkins
Whatever Happened to the “T” Word? An Immerse response by Liz Rosenthal
In Praise of Bad Games, Bad Theater An Immerse response by Alex Fleetwood
Transmedia Behaving Badly? An Immerse response by Christy Dena
The Trouble with Nonfiction Transmedia An Immerse response by Sue Ding
An Evolution in Storytelling and Impact An Immerse response by Lance Weiler
The Storyteller, the Fixer An Immerse response by Ramona Pringle
Transmedia: Art Forms Created in Real Time A Immerse response by Caitlin Burns
Deep Reads #2 On trends in transmedia

Issue #1: Interrogating VR

Newsletter | Janet H. Murray brings her long view on new media to the surging field of VR, examining how “necessary failures” will help VR designers develop more powerful narratives.

Not a Film and Not an Empathy Machine How necessary failures will help VR designers invent new storyforms by Janet H. Murray
Towards a VR Manifesto An Immerse response by Katerina Cizek
VR Is Not Film, So What Is It? An Immerse response by William Uricchio
Deep Reads #1 On VR and empathy

Immerse is an initiative of the MIT Open DocLab and The Fledgling Fund, and it receives funding from Just Films | Ford Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. IFP is our fiscal sponsor. Learn more about our project here.