XaRt Episode 1 - VR Explorations

Documenting my XR journey is important to me as this space is rapidly evolving, and people are creating such cool things! My first video in a series called XaRt ( XR + art (-: ) explores the worlds created by students at Otis College of Art & Design in a course called VR Explorations as part of their Digital Media Program. I found out about this work through the course’s professor Jacki Morie, an artist who has been studying art and computer science for years. Her work is incredibly inspiring to me and I’m grateful to be able to share this work!

Dreamscape Adventure

I am so glad I got to experience Dreamscape in VR with my fellow alternate realm enthusiasts! Dreamscape Immersive, is a national project for folks to experience cinema in virtual reality. The one in Columbus is located at the AMC theater in Easton Town Center. It currently has three experiences: Alien Zoo, Curse of the Lost Pearl, and The Blue. Each experience was about 20 minutes long and begins with an introduction to the story by a guide, then adventurers suit up with their computer backpack, headset, hands and feet trackers. Once in gear, the team steps into the black box and enters another realm!

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Community Organizing & Taking Action

February was a very full month for me! It feels like it flew by! I’ve been working full time at a computer store since May. It’s a family business, so my brother and I have been working hard to start the new year off right. We’re getting better, which feels really good! Other than work, I had some lovely volunteer experiences, attended a virtual conference called Immersive Art Labs 8, and decided that I want to go back to school. What’s really cool about all of this, though, is that all of these things fit into my sacred triangle of community, art, and technology, which makes me happy (-:

The Newark Think Tank on Poverty premiered their February edition of the Digital Recovery Cafe, a sober event featuring local artists. The series started in 2020 as a community event and safe space for folks in recovery. I’m honored to be the artist interviewer for the last few events (-: Check out event in the video below!

On February 10th, I had the pleasure to attend a presentation lead by Ohio Voice called Organizing 101. The training had been shared with me by some of the leaders at the Newark Think Tank on Poverty. The virtual event highlighted different methods of community organizing and strategy. Organizing is defined as “finding & developing leaders that can build a constituency (organization) to leverage communal power through campaigns that can improve people’s lives.” My experience with community organizing has been led by issues that are important to me, such as reproductive health, mental wellness, recovery, and other humanitarian efforts. I find it to be really fulfilling work that brightens my life, not to mention the people that I’ve met through organizing are wonderful!

Speaking of which, on the 23rd, I had my first full day of volunteering with MWA, a local membership based mutual benefit organization. They are dedicated year round to ending poverty and advocating for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. I first met them in 2020 and am continuously inspired by their efforts. During my day with them, we did community outreach in Columbus, a class titled “Making the Future - A New Kind of Labor Organizing,” and finally phoning outreach at the end of the day. I learned quite a lot, and it was nice to see what kind of an impact folks can have in their community with consistent determination. 

Happy New Year!

What a wild ride 2020 was. I found a lot of things to keep me occupied amidst the chaos of the year and will continue to pursue them this year. 

I have been working with the Newark Think Tank on Poverty to launch the #LetsTalkAoutStigma campaign. #LTAS is a social media effort to publicly discuss the harms of stigma on folks facing circumstances like addiction, mental illness, and poverty. These efforts include weekly discussions with community members, infographics, and educational outreach. The project is an extension of the Digital Recovery Cafe events that I got involved with in September of last year. Addiction and poverty are serious issues faced by too many Americans. On top of the challenges of these conditions, folks face additional shame and marginalization through internalized, social, and structural stigma. Through education and community outreach, we hope to limit the stigmatization of these conditions and thus acknowledge the humanity of the people in our community that face them. Feel free to check out the Newark Think Tank on Poverty FaceBook page and share the awesome work we are doing to address these issues!

In addition to the #LetsTalkAboutStigmaProject, I am continuing to work on the Augmented Reality by Terra Gallery app. In 2020, we launched multiple AR experiences including an augmented bee and butterfly, as well as augmented Halloween and Holiday Scavenger hunts! Our next project is focused on bringing to life three fairy characters that symbolize a simplified version of basic human needs: community, food, and shelter. 

To improve my understanding of how the app functions on the back end, I’m taking an online course by Universe called “Introduction to Unity in 3D/VR.” The course is awesome and takes place live in AltSpace VR. My first project was to create a driving game, and it went pretty well! Feel free to check it out here. 


Maker X 2020

Once again, I have had the opportunity to share the magic of art and VR with the world! On Sunday, February 29th, I held a table at MakerX in Columbus. MakerX is an expo celebrating technology and creativity. Folks from all over the city come to share their projects, maker spaces, and ideas. I shared with families examples of virtual reality art, my own work, and gave them the opportunity to make their own VR art! VR Columbus,

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Artist CG Ryan, Vlad from VR Columbus, and Adam from Circaevum were also presenting at MakerX!

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