The ZIP-SCENE conference took place in Prague from the 2nd to the 4th of November at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art. The conference theme was empathy in VR and immersive media. Scholars and practitioners presented projects that ranged from interactive storytelling methods and authoring, collective practices, to augmented reality in interactive storytelling and media archeology while focusing on the immersiveness of (medial) environments.

ifs-professor Dr. Frédéric Dubois introduced the panel on “Documentary Formats using Immersive Storytelling” in which the head of the MA Digital Narratives programme, Jimena Aguilar, gave a talk on “Immersive audio to present collective memory of violent events” based on her locative audio documentary. MA Digital Narratives students Laurien Michiels, Gwamaka Mwabuka, Samar Nahas and Media Haqshenas presented their MA projects in which they discussed cultural heritage in AR and VR storyteling, interactive installations for representing menopause, and the parallels between AI and dementia. Intriguing concepts!