Journey to Xotera
Fall 2020
Digital Experience, Storytelling
IMA Low Res
Journey to Xotera is a guided interactive storytelling experience— set in outer space— designed to encourage participants to rethink how they use of their imagination. Think of it as larping that takes place on Zoom. The companion app allows for real-time interactivity.
Skills Used:
- Storyboarding and Creative Writing
- Html, js, css
- Server-side with Node.js
- Socket.io
- Three.js
- Data storage with NeDB
- p5.js
- Git/Github
- Deployment with Heroku
Mission Companion
Control Center
Formal Post-mortem can be found here.
The full written runthrough can be found here.
How It Works
Each Zoom guest is assigned the role of an astrobiologist looking for life on other planets. As your CampCom, I am guiding you on the inaugural mission to Xotera, an exo-planet that could one day be an Alternative Earth.
Using Zoom, real-world objects, and the interactive app, guests will be asked to communicate with their fellow astrobiologist teammates, reimagine everyday items as pieces of in-world texture, play mini-games, and, most importantly, opt into using their imaginations.
Intention
I feel there is a sadness, a hollowness to adults as we grow older. It feels like, at some point, everyone crosses a threshold where they reach a point of no return, or rather, embrace a different version of their child selves. After this point, adults cannot ultimately recapture the creativity from their childhood, in part because they lose their playful selves. Adults can only see glimpses through "disguising" the play. Adults use young children as a vehicle to engage in boundless play but avoid this play themselves. Adults can act or perform as long as it's structured or if it's for someone. Adults indulge in partying and drinking. Adults play through collecting. This informed topic of adult play informed Journey to Xotera.
I want to remind adults how fun it is to tap into their childlike spirits. It’s so much fun to play how you once did. Children are inventive, nothing is out of bounds. I also want to encourage adults to explore new ways of playing. I want to populate an imaginative space.
Framing The Experience
I envision Journey to Xotera as an invite-only expereience with its prime directive to inspire adults that have lost touch with their imagination and playful selves. The experience would only be promoted by word-of-mouth. I hope it grows a cult-like follwing where adults gathering to play. In the long-term I hope there are numerous spin-offs beyond just the one Journey to Xotera experience.