PREFACE:
Experimentation in the spirit of play is essential to discovering how human centered research/user testing principles is able to help creators, product and branding specialists imagine new ways of solving problems. Imagination sits at the core not static, but alive. It moves and explores systems re-forming them in the way only the Arts can.
VISION:
My task was to direct a choreographed dance scene exploring mental health through the metaphor of shifting landscapes. The piece also supported a brand and product activation showcasing “invisible” UI and pre-production streamable camera technology. Acting as the creative lead and immersive artist, I was fortunate to work with a group of remarkable students and recent graduates with a working knowledge of Unreal Engine and mocap technology.
PROJECT ASPECTS:
The project combined story, dance choreography, digital fluency, and sound-choir recordings. It was highly challenging on many levels, with a tight 15-day turnaround and a crew of nearly 20 people. At its core, the work celebrated the dialogue between story, imagery and XR digital creations, a dynamic interplay that explored the evolving “dance” between technology and human expression.
Here is the published Siggraph white paper: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3736539.3737497
Artist in Residence:
Creative Direction and of course Openbrush VR Paintings
Creative Direction and of course Openbrush VR Paintings
I developed a cross human-centered design process to map the emotional beats of the story. My emotional strategy map which I originated as part of my own unique storytelling system enabled me to communicate the narrative to both the choreographer and the technical crew in ways that aligned with their distinct modes of thinking. Since the language of dance differs greatly from the analytical nature of technical development, grounding the process in emotion supported by music and story beats created a shared framework that led to fast and effective results.
I also invited my friend Jonathan Bierman to share his expertise as our Technical Director. With his sound engineering and Unreal Engine background, he was able to mix live music from the Forest Harmonies Choir at UBC Spirit Park to create our main track. He also collaborated with the team to design the interactivity including enhancing the touchless technology (NZTech).
The Story - Everyone wants EMOTIONAL PIECES that MOVE THEM
Living with Alzheimer’s isn’t easy. My mother has the disease, and while it’s been tough in so many ways, it’s also taught me a lot about what’s really important in life. In the Forest Wild XR project, I wanted to look at the themes of:
1)mental illness and 'connections' both mental/physical/emotional
2)the power of the arts + nature to heal
3)regeneration through nature
The wildfires burning through BC during the summer months and throughout other parts of Canada felt like the right metaphor; a description of destruction and renewal happening at the same time. Out of that mix, I started to see the pieces of metaphor that could carry my mom’s story, and my family’s story… only told with an imaginative twist. More on that later...
1)mental illness and 'connections' both mental/physical/emotional
2)the power of the arts + nature to heal
3)regeneration through nature
The wildfires burning through BC during the summer months and throughout other parts of Canada felt like the right metaphor; a description of destruction and renewal happening at the same time. Out of that mix, I started to see the pieces of metaphor that could carry my mom’s story, and my family’s story… only told with an imaginative twist. More on that later...
Here is one of my many Emotion Maps that I created to enable our choreographer to use dance to interpret the project. It worked well because it enabled everyone to understand what they were seeing, hearing etc. A cross between an empathy map and my own analysis, it offered a diagnostic POV to everything we did.
The Perfect Metaphor for a Product Activation
Like advertising campaigns, products use stories and experiences to sell aspirational goals. While I am not privy to all the things the NZTech (gesture-based UI) represents, I do know that it is has been used in real life as part of surgical UI allowing surgeons to swipe through information and data using hand gestures.
By introducing the NZTech to our project, head developer Jonathan Bierman and junior designer Skye Higgins were able to design an experience that merged artwork and landscape by way of specific hand gestures.
Our dancer Clara was able to direct fireflies along the pathway or activate elements seemingly game-like in tone and style by a simple wave of her hand. The combination of product design, relatable story, art direction and innovative UI opened up audiences eyes to a potential new market from health and medicine to games and XR realities.
These are the team members and the names of the people who made it happen.
Some photos of the crew in action
What is Being Affected? (Environment vs Humans and vice versa)
1. The dancers (their actions) are affecting the actual trees within the virtual environment. Each mocapped hand gesture made the trees rustle violently thereby communicating the change in mood and emotion.
2. The fireball and the flowers were on a sequence timer using unreal engine to simulate affects on the forest environment.
3. The ghosts with the uni-tail are following templated dance moves pre-captured from a mocap library and programmed into Unreal Engine
NEWS FLASH: November 30: We have been invited to show at PXR Festival 2026
It's always nice when someone recognizes your work, story, creative project etc. In 2023, my team was invited to share our award-winning VR worlds (Dragon Magic and Freedom Giants) with the Performance and XR Festival. It was an amazing experience.
Just recently, I was invited again but this time with a completely different crew to share Forest Wild XR in Jan-Feb 2026. Since most of the work was done by students, I'll be happy to offer the audience a glimpse of their processes. It will be the first time they will speak from a world stage. Thank you Liam and PXR team.
NEWS FLASH: December 23 2025:
We were nominated for the AUREA AWARDS show in 2026 by my dear friend Evo
It was a total surprise representing my third nomination in these last 3 years.
Testimonial:
"A very nuanced piece with so many dynamic parts. This story focuses on a very strong and emotional theme yet is both poignant and entertaining at the same time. The perfect metaphor for our time". - Siggraph 2025
