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 AI-generated dance 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
My work: Art Direction, Storytelling and Creative Lead
I wrote the narrative and developed a cross human-centered design process to map the emotional beats of the story. This system dubbed "Juliana's emotional strategy map" allowed 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.
The Story - Everyone wants EMOTIONAL PIECES that MOVE THEM. I DELIVERED!
Living with Alzheimer’s isn’t fun. 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 mental illness, healing, and regeneration through nature. The wildfires burning through BC and 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 a twist.
WHAT IF???.....
WHAT IF???.....
- What if Alzheimer’s was a friend embodied as a different person —someone you knew deeply, someone you trusted? And what if, over time, that friend grew jealous of your good health? What if it began to betray you, stealing the secrets you held close, the words and memories you cherished? I brought this idea to our developers and choreographers, laid it at their feet, and followed up with storyboards—while giving them the freedom to shape it into their own stories. The results were fascinating, artistic and resonant. It's what gave the performance POWER while shaping meaning for everyone on our team.
