EXPDSN Issue #3: Redesigning The Internet for Human Connection
Hello, Experientials. In this issue…
What does redesigning the internet look like? Presence is looking for a CTO, EXPDSN is having a casual conversation on Clubhouse and so much more. Let’s dive in!
Redesigning the internet for human connection
There’s been a lot of talk about the metaverse. The most striking claim for the metaverse's potential is that it can shift how we connect as a species. I’m entirely in agreement with that notion, yet I can’t help but feel we’ve been here before. The first claim of using technology to bring us into connection was Facebook, and we’re all aware of how that turned out.
The fundamental problem the first time around is that no one bothered to inquire deeply about what human connection is, how it works, and most importantly, how to make it the guiding principle in the design process of our technologies. Instead, it was used as a distraction from what we’re actually building as we recklessly built it. The result has been devastating, literally shredding our social fabric.
Now that more and more technologies come online to create the metaverse, it’s equally important for experiential designers to discuss the use for it the same way we discuss physical environments. As we build the metaverse, we must stand firmly in a collective agreement that its purpose is to create spaces for human connection. Should we agree to this, it will require that we understand how connection works for humans more deeply. This is why research like Civic Signal’s Building Better Digital Public Spaces is important to share, support, and integrate. I especially love their work on Cultivate Belonging. Understanding human states like belonging and how it’s a fundamental need to feel connected to others is exactly what we need as central themes for building virtual spaces. Eli Pariser's exploration of online parks and digital infrastructure is a beautiful line of inquiry. I also love Ethan Zuckerman’s FAQ essay on digital social spaces.
Who is best equipped to shape these spaces?
There are 50M creators online, 1% of them are experiential creators who are thinking of meaningful and intentional ways to bring people together. I’m sure you reading this fall into this group and this is why you need to know of all the up and coming virtual spaces available for gatherings. You get to shape these spaces to work for connection, vulnerability, belonging, compassion, presence, or whatever it is you believe stewards us to be better human beings. I believe this to be an important responsibility as experiential designers, creators, and artists if we’re to alter our relationship with technology to be healthier.
To continue this conversation, follow EXPDSN → Clubhouse
Technology and the future of theatre
Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital Development, Royal Shakespeare Company, writes:
Collaborations with digital pioneers can help theatre reimagine its connection with its audiences. In the pandemic, this is proving vital.
Take Dream, for instance, as an example of theatre coming online. Dream is a dreamlike journey into a forest-inspired by Shakespeare’s iconic play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, designed as a virtual play.
The embrace of new technologies and forms allowed us to be more open, to experiment on different platforms and so to broaden our thinking around our audience.
Read more → Creativity, Culture & Capital
Sundance went virtual to bring you community
When Sundance went virtual for 2021, they found out that we’ve ay been virtual. As
Once we could see the entire infrastructure of New Frontier, we realized an important and central fact was not going to change—the fact that we were always building on the bio-digital continuum which defines our modern life. So the only physical thing that would change for 2021, was that we would substitute homes for our venue, and we would not take for granted the devices that our audiences were using inside our venue. Those devices would become the platform for our 2021 exhibition design.
As experiential designers, if you still think in real life is the only way to create transformative experiences, I invite a reframing of that perspective. Larger festivals like Burning Man, Art Basel, SXSW will continue to bring festivals online, giving you more virtual opportunities to design for human experiences.
Learn more → Dropbox
Understanding the VR market in 2021
We are coming closer and closer to wielding the technology necessary to make VR relevant. Limina Immersive surveyed 3,544 British internet users to find out the proportion of the population who own a VR headset and the characteristics of those who own a VR headset. The sample was broadly reflective of the UK population’s demographic make-up.
Check it out → Limina
Some hotels are taking film and TV universes very literally.
In a bid to revive its revenue, 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky, opened a Queen’s Gambit-themed hotel room… and it’s already successful. With nearly a billion unbooked rooms around the country, studios and streamers themselves could take a page out of Disney’s script and partner with hotels to create branded collaborations.
Experiential spaces
Capitalizing on the success of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky (where the show is partly based) created the Harmon Room based on the show’s protagonist, Beth Harmon.
It sold out within 72 hours of being publicized, despite costing $220/night (typical rooms at the hotel cost $140/night).
The hotel plans to keep the room theme until at least the spring.
This point shows how the internet and physical world are becoming more and more blurred every day. We’re constantly taking physical into digital and now digital into physical. This will continue to trend.
Read more → Bloomberg
Applications & call for entries
The Creative Capital Award is open to artists, collectives, and collaborations working in all disciplines starting February 1 through March 1.
Sheffield Doc/Fest is open for submissions for their 2021 edition. The late deadline for the Arts Programme (formerly Alternate Realities) is March 1.
Prix Ars Electronica has an open call with multiple categories. Deadline March 3.
New Images is open for XR project submissions. Deadline March 22.
VIFF Immersed is open for submissions. Regular deadline May 28.
Stochastic Labs awards fully funded residencies to engineers, artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs from around the world—applications on a rolling basis.
The Eyebeam Center for the Future of Journalism (ECFJ) is taking applications from artists or artist-journalist teams on a rolling basis. Please take a look at their website to see the list of topics they are interested in exploring.
H/T → Immerse
Warming up the Clubhouse
We’ve had our club on Clubhouse for months, but I’ve been waiting for the platform to become more accessible to start gathering. On Friday, 5:30 ET, we’ll be having a warmup discussion to our programming titled “Are You Changing People? How Can We Help You?”
Our society often obsesses about those changing the world, and I believe that the world is perfectly fine. Humans, on the other hand… How are you creating spaces for people to change? And how can we help, i.e., the collective we?
If you need invites, please do reach out.
Add to your calendar → Clubhouse
Looking for a CTO Co-founder at Presence to shape the internet of human connection
As we build out the infrastructure that empowers creators to build their experiential platforms - virtual or physical, we’re looking for a technical co-founder to help us shape the internet for human connection.
Learn more → Presence
Got a tip? Please send it my way to damian@withpresence.co. Also, I’m open to sharing guest opinions on this newsletter.
Thank you, Damian.
Brought to you with Presence