South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals (March 11-19, 2022) unveiled the new look and feel of this year’s SXSW XR Experience World presented by FLUF World, as well as additional XR programming as part of the 2022 event. The all-new condensed and fantastical artist’s representations of a melded Congress Avenue and Red River Cultural District, floating in space with unique new features, will once again showcase live panels, Meet Ups, special events, and more from March 11-19. This is in addition to the previously announced 30 XR Experience Competition, XR Experience Spotlight, and XR Experience Special Events that can be explored live in the Fairmont Hotel March 13-15, 2022 from 11:00am – 6:00pm, as well as the in-person Connecting with XR Summit presented by FLUF World, which runs March 14-15. Additional XR related sessions can be found throughout the Conference programming.
Newly conceived venues recreated in the XR Experience world include The Paramount Theatre, the Contemporary Austin, Mohawk, Empire Control Room & Garage, and of course the Moontower, which can be climbed or visited via airborne taxi. SXSW once again worked with world-renowned artists and the social XR events studio VRrOOm to design and produce the festival’s latest virtual elements, which will be hosted on VRChat.
A selection of the XR Program will also be accessible and downloadable via Vast starting March 12. The VRChat world can be experienced on PC, PCVR and Oculus Quest headsets. More information about how to experience the XR Experience world can be found here.
“Last year’s Online XR environment was wildly successful in bringing people together in the virtual world that brought Austin to life in a spectacular way and gave so many people a taste of what SXSW has to offer,” said Blake Kammerdiener, XR and Film Programmer. “We were thrilled to again work with Louis Cacciuttolo and his company VRrOOm to create this entirely new fantastical virtual space that honors Austin but is also literally out of this world.”
“Attendees can come together, explore these worlds, and watch content created specifically for the VR world and select SXSW content,” Kammerdiener continued. “We are very excited to be showcasing virtual dome shows made alongside world renowned artists Jean Michel Jarre, m1n0t0r and Molécule as well as several other exciting artist performances live in VRChat. We’ll be closing out with a special party that you won’t want to miss!”
SXSW XR Experience will also present a wide array of work outside of the VRChat world, including special conversations with our NFT Gallery curators, a one of a kind immersive showcase with Miro Shot at the Hideout Theatre, with other special opportunities sprinkled around the event.
© 2022, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
