Author Archives: amy jazienicki

As my final blog post, I wanted to write about a fascinating competition I came across in my research on Indigenous use of VR and AR technology. The Share Your Roots VR Competition invites participants who are Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, storytellers, and artists to share their creative gifts and be given the chance to develop their own customized VR experience (Baiguzhiyeva, 2021). This competition is a partnership with the Indigenous-owned ORIGIN, Uber, and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) with the aim of educating both Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in the long-term pursuit of reconciliation (Baiguzhiyeva, 2021).

ORIGIN has a VR-based application called ImmersiveLink, designed with career exploration in addition to Indigenous cultural awareness embedded within it; the app, when combined with Oculus headsets, immerses users in 360-degree VR tours (Baiguzhiyeva, 2021). I would personally like to see initiatives that bring VR technology to Indigenous youth more directly and their communities to foster experimentation, creativity, and ultimately education. Even for Indigenous youth who do not intend to pursue careers involving VR, the technology can still serve as a ‘guide’ to exploring a variety of educational paths and career options available to them in immersive and engaging ways (e.g., environmentalism, social work, law, teaching, etc.).

References

Baiguzhiyeva, D. (2021). Contest seeking Indigenous knowledge keepers, artists and storytellers. Toronto Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/19/contest-seeking-indigenous-knowledge-keepers-artists-and-storytellers.html

Indigenous storytelling simultaneously convey what has happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what could happen in the future: circularity in time, space and continuity is intrinsic to Indigenous worldviews (Myburgh, 2018). Many of my previous blog posts have illuminated the ingenuity of AR technology storytelling in ways that empower Indigenous creators to connect their cultures, the land and the technology to engage a new generation of users. Wikiup is an AR project that enhances the Canadian landscape with superimposed digital interactions; this facilitates interaction between elder storytellers and users who are dubbed as “story catchers”, enabling the transfer of traditional knowledge about a particular location (Myburgh, 2018). Overlaying digital interactions onto physical places empowers Indigenous creators to “reclaim” their lands and, in a sense, their sense of “sovereignty” as well.

Figure 1. Myburgh (2018). Wikiup, produced by Adrian Duke, AR application screenshots, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2021, from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/supporting-self-determined-indigenous-innovations/docview/2035667161/se-2?accountid=14656. Screenshot by Vancouver Native Housing Society.

However, Myburgh (2018) notes the question of access to video and mobile technologies that can host AR art as a challenge for Indigenous communities across Canada. Broader issues of the digital divide should be addressed in conjunction with providing access and resources to AR technology in particular. Myburgh (2018) emphasizes that AR technology presents ample opportunity for Indigenous artists to investigate issues pertaining to culture, memory, and place.

References

Myburgh, B. (2018). Here and Now: Indigenous Canadian Perspectives and New Media in Works by Ruben Komangapik, Kent Monkman and Adrian Duke. Leonardo 51(4), 394-398. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/702020

Part of Canada on Screen, 2167 is a series comprised of four VR experiences created by Indigenous filmmakers and artists who conceptualized Indigenous life 150 from now (TIFF, 2021). The project epitomizes ‘Indigenous futurism’ and its potential to reorient both the use and philosophical underpinnings of VR and AR technology. The project has toured extensively around Canada, ranging from Yellowknife to Fredericton (TIFF, 2021); it had partnered with imagineNATIVE to usher the immersive media project (grunt, 2017). Combining science fiction and alternate realities, Indigenous creators design media works that not only speculate about Indigenous places and people in the future, but also explore the extremely nuanced and complex histories of Indigenous peoples and the impacts of colonialism (grunt, 2017). Western notions of temporality are directly challenged through 2167, in addition to incorporating non-linear notions of time inherent in Indigenous metaphysics.

Figure 1. 2167 at boombox 2017 (2021). TIFF. TIFF. Retrieved July 10, 2021.

Many of these creators have expressed a high degree of enthusiasm to challenge and “rewrite” dominant Western narratives perpetuating the idea that Indigenous cultures are simply “stuck in the past”. One creator growing up in Saskatchewan expressed that nothing reflected personal experiences and that current representations are rather problematic (TIFF, 2021).

References

grunt. (2017). 2167, An Indigenous VR Project. grunt. Retrieved from https://grunt.ca/exhibitions/2167-an-indigenous-vr-project/

TIFF. (2021). Indigenous Virtual Futures during Canada on Screen: the 2167 project. TIFF. Retrieved from https://tiff.net/action-report/fall2017/indigenous-virtual-futures

Brett Leavy, the creative mind behind the Virtual Songlines project, has spent several decades researching how to “take people back” to places from which First Nations people originated: his aspiration has been to create systems that represent the interactions between first settlers and Indigenous people in entertaining and engaging ways, in addition to VR products combining traditional knowledge with 3D pre-colonial landscapes embedded with cultural, linguistic, and community knowledge (acmi, 2020). Virtual Songlines enables the user to explore the historical and cultural heritage of Brisbane (Leavy, 2017). Users can “experience” the forests and rivers, juxtaposing the connection to nature with the harsh realities of colonialism and industrialization.

BRETT LEAVY. (2017, OCT 15). VIRTUAL SONGLINES [VIDEO]. YOUTUBE.

Virtual Songlines began as PC games, then AR games with VR experimentation in-between: Leavy’s primary motivation has been to enhance users’ sense of immersion and interactivity in the experiences he creates, resulting in the project becoming what he dubs as a “virtual heritage toolkit” (acmi, 2020). To me, this epitomizes the ideal intersection between Indigenous creativity, VR, decolonization, and even environmental stewardship. The “toolkit” Leavy has created provides a multifaceted, dynamic, and engaging educational resources through which this intersection can be experienced and better understood by users, relying on immersion and interactivity as the driving forces behind the learning.

References

acmi. (2020, Sept 21). Preserving Indigenous culture through VR: Brett Leavy’s Virtual Songline. acmi. Retrieved from https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/preserving-indigenous-culture-through-vr-brett-leavys-virtual-songlines/

Brett Leavy. (2017, Oct 15). Virtual Songlines [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJRHUcC0xa8

Pleito VR is a prime example of using the technology in cultural education programs (Recording Archeology, 2019). The VR experience explores an immersive cave with rock art, in addition to interactive heritage exhibits and artefacts (Immersive Academy, 2017). Art work can “come alive” and tell meaningful stories to the user. The “disembodied” experience of the VR cave compels the user to consider their body in a new way, enabling them to exit their temporality and enter the virtual space to experience different textures and dimensions not immediately available at the physical space itself (Recording Archeology, 2019). The experience was created with Unity 3D, Oculus Avatar SDK, Virtual Reality Toolkit (VRTK)” (Immersive Academy, 2017).

IMMERSIVE ACADEMY (2017, SEPT 1). PLEITO VR CONCEPT [VIDEO]. YOUTUBE.

There are unconsidered VR spaces, especially when we consider Indigenous ontologies; rather than just symbolic or indexical, objects can be relational agents (Recording Archeology, 2019). Objects constantly undergo transformations, and thus VR work becomes a “moving assemblage” of colonization and disenfranchisement that is informed by Indigenous scholars, anthropologists, and even philosophers (Recording Archeology, 2019). When considered through such a lens, Western ontologies can be directly challenged and allow for Indigenous consciousness to “reshape” VR experiences, ushering in “Indigenous Futurism”.

RECORDING ARCHEOLOGY (2019, MAY 18). WHEN THE VIRTUAL BECOMES ACTUAL: INDIGENOUS ONTOLOGIES WITHIN IMMERSIVE REALITY ENVIRONMENTS [VIDEO]. YOUTUBE.

References

Immersive Academy. (2017, Sept 1). Pleito VR Concept [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJRHUcC0xa8

Recording Archeology. (2019, May 18). When the Virtual becomes Actual: Indigenous Ontologies within Immersive Reality Environments [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjB2LyVGEso