Whew. It’s been a jam-packed week in Immersive-Ville. So what all happened?
We got peek into the upcoming interactive VR experience Vader Immortal for the Oculus Quest and Rift at Star Wars Celebration. Liminal Immersive, a new permanent VR theatre, has opened in Bristol, UK. Nintendo’s Labo VR shipped this week. Meow Wolf and Elitch Gardens have soft-launched the new dark ride Kaleidoscape in Denver; meanwhile TechCrunch also got a look into what Meow Wolf is doing in with volumetric capture space. Escape room owners in New York City got the surprise news that local government is reclassifying what category of business they operate under, leading to multiple citations and even some venue shutdowns. The VOID announced a new San Francisco location. And Owlchemy Labs released the long-awaited Vacation Simulator.
Plus, our friends over at Scout Expedition Co. announced a Kickstarter to bring back their hit show, The Nest, where Serial meets escape rooms meets Gone Home, but in real life. (More on that on this week’s podcast episode.)
And: there’s a bunch of immersive creator deadlines coming up including: the Odyssey Works Master Class happening this summer (apply by May 1; scholarships are available); this year’s IndieCade competition (apply by April 25; see their new categories including a brand spanking new location based design award); Scatter and ThoughtWorks’ volumetric filmmaking summer residency (apply by April 25); and IDFA’s DocLab program (April 22).
And what’s going on in NoPro land? We visited Grover’s Corners in Vegas, flew through the Under(world) in DC, and joined the MASS/Rabble in Baltimore. Oh, and our own Noah J. Nelson is speaking at the LA Times Festival of Books LATER TODAY! Hope you got your tickets, LA. Online sales have already ended — visit booth #350 on site for any extras.
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ON THE PODCAST THIS WEEK
The Nest — which blended elements of escape rooms and podcast dramas — was one of our favorite shows of 2017. The show’s two LA-based creators Jeff Leinenveber and Jarrett Lantz, aka Scout Expedition Co., are bringing the piece back in an extended format this year.
This week they launched a Kickstarter campaign that will help with that effort, and they’re on the show to tell us about what they have up their sleeve.
Show Notes:
- LA Times Festival of Books: Noah’s talk. The Scout Expedition talk. The Unsent Podcast. Dr. Alex Avila’s Love University show.
- The LEIA Immersive Intensive — April 27th in LA
FROM THE WIRE: SHOWS, EVENTS, & EXPERIENCES
Asheville, NC / Atlanta, GA: Broken Bone Bathtub
Greenville, SC: Shakespeare Board Game Night
NYC: Chaos Theory (Remount); The Inheritance Project; Temple of the Senses; Pew Pew Candy Carnival; Tracking the White Shadow
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Submit your show to us here or at pitches@noproscenium.com.
REVIEWS
From No Proscenium:
From David & Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist:
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“Enchambered in Sacramento, CA impressed us with their grand sets, strong puzzle design, and exciting moments. This week, we reviewed The Legend of the Skull Witch and The Whispering Halls.”
Enchambered - The Legend of the Skull Witch [Review] - Room Escape ArtistThe Wicked Witch of the West Coast Location: Sacramento, California Date Played: February 24, 2019 Team size: up to 6…roomescapeartist.comEnchambered - The Whispering Halls [Review] - Room Escape ArtistThe Haunted Mansion Location: Sacramento, California Date Played: February 24, 2019 Team size: up to 10; we recommend…roomescapeartist.com
STORIES
From NoProscenium.com and our Twitter feed:
Majestic Rep Adds Immersive Twist to ‘Our Town’ (Q&A)An interview with Artistic Director Troy Heardnoproscenium.comExplore Death and Life in ‘Under(world)’ with DC’s TBD Immersive (Q&A)A conversation with Strother Gaines and Jenny Splitternoproscenium.comNintendo Labo VR kit review: The Switch makes virtual magicNintendo's late entry to the world of VR is finally here. Yes, it's made of cardboard. Yes, it's weird. But the ideas…www.cnet.comPark Slope Escape Room Deemed Fire Hazard, Shut Down By FDNYPARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN - An escape room on Union Street was one of many recently shut down by FDNY officials as the city…patch.comVoices of VR PodcastOwlchemy Labs have been pioneering VR experiences exploring hand presence and embodied gameplay in VR since the release…voicesofvr.comMeow Wolf, the George R.R. Martin-backed immersive experience designer, pushes into XRIt's been a long time since the original 10 members of Meow Wolf's art collective had to scrounge in dumpsters for the…techcrunch.comLocation-Based VR Startup The Void to Open San Francisco OutpostThe Void is coming to San Francisco: The location-based VR startup is getting ready to open a new outpost in the…variety.comBuckle Up: Meow Wolf Launches Kaleidoscape at Elitch GardensDon't bother begging for the chicken exit: Meow Wolf's wild ride is finally arriving in Denver. On April 20 the Santa…www.westword.comThe MA Virtual Reality Manifesto for Immersive StorytellingWe have just wrapped up the first semester of our brand new masters in Vitual Reality at UWE Bristol, and it has been…medium.comStar Wars Celebration: 'Vader Immortal' by ILMxLAB Is Coming to Oculus Quest-and the Rift Platform!TL;DR: Today, Head of Media, AR/VR Experiences Colum Slevin took the stage with our partners from ILMxLAB on stage at…www.oculus.comNew Trajectories in Volumetric Filmmaking: Open Call | ThoughtWorks Arts ResidencyOpen Call for a Volumetric Filmmaking residency, hosted by ThoughtWorks Arts and Scatter in New York Citythoughtworksarts.ioIDFA DocLab Open Call for Proposals 2019 | IDFAOur goal is to discover new talent and commission interactive and immersive non-fiction works that challenge…www.idfa.nlSUBMISSIONS - IndieCadeNo, you cannot edit your application form once it has been submitted. There is some leniency if your form has broken…www.indiecade.comOdyssey WorksThe Odyssey Works Master Class will be held at the Rochester Folk Art Guild located in Middlesex, NY. Located on an…www.odysseyworks.org
From David & Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist:
“We are really excited about two Kickstarters that launched this week. Blood on the Clocktower is an social deduction game that wowed board game review site Shut Up and Sit Down. Scout Expedition Company is remounting their intimate immerse experience, The Nest.”
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