#1539: Wandering in Open World Doc Archives in Mixed Reality with SXSW XR Jury Prize Winner “Reflections of Little Red Dot”

Voices of VR

The SXSW XR Competition jury prize winner REFLECTIONS OF LITTLE RED DOT had some really innovative mixed reality integrations, and was also a part of a new trend of cultivating an archive of material as an artistic practice. This piece by director Chloé Lee featured about 3 hours of documentary interview footage shot in Singapore starting in 2015 exploring a variety of different themes. Originally started with the intent to create a documentary to learn more about her mother's homeland, Lee turned to mixed reality to create sets of themes featuring looping clips from interviews she conducted to tell the story of Singapore. The experience creates a sense of wandering that you get when exploring a new place, and allows you to dip in and out of different flows of thought. You can navigate these different themes by placing a physical photo slide into a retro slide projector that only takes one slide at a time. Once you pop it in, then you immediately see a mixed reality light creating a holographic Singaporean table where you can sit down and navigate 5-6 different clips. It's one of the more compelling uses of mixed reality I've seen that creates a holographic illusion that you use your body to edit between these different interview clips. The jury statement reads, "Deceptively humble and delightful, this open-world documentary invites us to freely explore a country in transition. Guided by a daring new talent in XR storytelling, it confronts us with the vulnerability of everyday life, evoking a universal sense of place." This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality