The exhibition „Applied Virtualities: Extended Reality in Practice“ shows how XR technologies are opening up new paths and poses important questions about the future of our digital world.
In medicine, virtual spaces are used to teach surgical techniques, but also to treat degenerative diseases such as dementia. Soldiers practise in virtual battlefields. Influencers and models present digital fashion at Metaverse design weeks. Ancient cities and destroyed historical landmarks are digitally reconstructed. Extended reality (XR) technologies are already omnipresent in today’s world – and not just in the gaming and entertainment industry. The technologies developed in recent decades – virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) – blur the boundary between virtual and real and open up access to the so-called “metaverse”. At the Ars Electronica Festival 2024, the exhibition “Applied Virtualities: Extended Reality in Practice” demonstrates how the use of VR and AR can strengthen hope for a better future by opening up new paths in medicine, education, art and environmental awareness.
But the exhibition doesn’t just show how XR technologies are driving economic and technological innovation. How do we ensure that key technologies remain publicly accessible? How do we design technologies that protect and preserve our environment? What is the role of the individual and the group in virtual space? Through art, fundamental questions about the development of such technologies are posed and explored. The artistic projects presented as part of the “Realities in Transition” project – co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union – contextualize XR philosophically and emphasize sustainability, openness and inclusivity of technical innovations.
In keeping with its innovative and interdisciplinary approach, this forward-looking exhibition can be found at a festival location that is celebrating its debut this year: the JKU MED Campus. While the Johannes Kepler University with its modern infrastructure and attractive campus has been an important part of the Ars Electronica Festival for years, the festival will be complemented this year by the exciting location of the JKU MED Campus. With the aim of combining artistic creativity with scientific research and thus being a transformative force, the JKU MED Campus also offers a place for the “Virtual Anatomy stereographic space”, which enables medical students to plan operations in unprecedented photographic 8K quality. This innovative environment provides the perfect setting for the projects presented as part of the “Applied Virtualities: Extended Reality in Practice” exhibition.
For example, if you want to immerse yourself in a world full of play, interactivity and uncertainty and navigate alternative realities, you should not miss the “Department of Interfaced Dimensions” project in the exhibition. Developed by seven artists at the V2_Lab for the Unstable Media, this project aims to find an answer to the question of how to create bridges between the world in VR glasses and the world around you. At “#ALPHALOOP”, a performance in public space with the participation of visitors, you can experience a 360° cinema and live performance with mixed reality headsets and explore the interfaces between spirituality and technology. HIM, a shaman, and MÉTA, a technomancer, guide you through a sensory journey through technology, ideology of innovation and spirituality. “Alison’s Room: An xR Archive” reconstructs the private study of Alison Smithson (1928-1993), an early protagonist of New Brutalism in architecture. Visitors have the opportunity to explore her designs and the multi-sensory nature of memory through interactive elements. A special work that enables a virtual reality journey across the USA is also part of the exhibition. From well-known American cities to areas affected by climate disasters, “21-22-USA” lets you discover the world’s largest superpower under human influence.
The projects were selected to illustrate the broad application of XR, while also rethinking and innovatively interpreting it. Which stage has the technology progressed to? The exhibition “Applied Virtualities: Extended Reality in Practice” invites visitors to experience and explore XR technologies, but also to engage with the ethical and social implications. It shows that artists, as bearers of hope, continue to provide important food for thought from the beginnings of XR to the present day.
During the Ars Electronica Festival 2024, you will therefore not only gain an insight into current developments in the field of XR. Above all, the festival offers a platform to think about the future of our society in the age of digital transformation – about our idea of a better, fairer and more sustainable future. True to the motto “HOPE – who will turn the tide”.
Tickets for the Ars Electronica Festival 2024 can be found here.
Presented in the context of the “Realities in Transition” project. “Realities in Transition” is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.