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Onassis ONX Immersive Arcade featured at the Games for Change Festival 2024 in New York

The transformative power of XR to bridge gaps and connect people across different generations and cultural backgrounds.

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The Games for Change (G4C) Festival made a dynamic return to Onassis ONX in New York, where the Immersive Arcade took center stage from June 26 to 30, 2024. The Immersive Arcade highlighted a curated selection of XR works from the Onassis ONX community and the G4C ecosystem, offering a unique glimpse into the cutting-edge developments in narrative games and immersive storytelling.

Photo: Kezi Ban

The Loon by artist Matt McCorkle at Onassis ONX

"The 2030 Marker: A Catalyst for Global Change"
Under the theme "The 2030 Marker: A Catalyst for Global Change," the 2024 Games for Change Festival draws inspiration from the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s festival spotlighted the potential of games and XR technologies to drive social change and foster community engagement. By bringing together voices from around the world, the festival demonstrated how the gaming industry can lead in areas such as sustainability, accessibility, health, and education. The G4C Immersive Arcade at Onassis ONX emphasized the transformative power of games to bridge gaps and connect people across different generations and cultural backgrounds, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable global society.

The transformative power of XR to bridge gaps and connect people across different generations and cultural backgrounds.

Participating artists:

Annie Saunders & Andrew Schneider, “Current”

Cameron Kostopoulos, (Preview) “I Will Defy You Until My Dying Breath"

Kevin Peter He, (Preview) “Doors We Open”

Matt McCorkle, (Preview) “The Loon”

Sam Butin, (Preview) “Normandie”

Michael Stauffer, “Groove Catcher by Vizmoo”

Image from Annie Saunders and Andrew Schneider, “CURRENT”

“CURRENT” by Annie Saunders & Andrew Schneider

Site-specific Soundwalk

Winner of the 2021 Tribeca Festival Immersive Creative Nonfiction Award and the Tribeca X Award, “CURRENT” is a site-specific soundwalk through Lower Manhattan accessed via a mobile app and headphones. CURRENT immerses participants using binaural sound, composition and environmental recordings to draw together a narrative that includes themes of water, time, construction, destruction, synchronicity, and resilience.To access the walk, download the POINT.A app in the Apple Store or Google Play Store.

Additional Credits:
Concept, direction, devising & narration: Annie Saunders

Concept development, devising, narration, spatialization, on-location recording & sound design: Andrew Schneider

Sound design, engineering & spatialization: Jackie! Zhou, One Thousand Birds Platform technology creation: OpenEndedGroup

Creative producing: Octopus Theatricals

Commissioned by Arts Brookfield for One Liberty Plaza and One New York Plaza.

Additional narration: Kamau Ware, Curtis Zunigha

Project consultation: Curtis Zunigha, Kamau Ware, Jarrod Grim, Lily Stern, Becca Wolff, Sophie Bortolussi, Jessica Williams, Andrew Gustafson, Sarah Nelson Wright, Nate Kensinger, Rafe Knapp, David Abram, Peina Cao, Evan Beamont, Lauren Bille, Timothy ‘Speed’ Levitch, Aaron Oster, Dianne Snake, Danny Lyon, David Rosenberg, Josh Kopecek, Michael Reynolds, George John, Elena Guarinello, Tanner Blackman

This project was created with critical support from Mint House at 70 Pine.

Special thanks: Downtown Alliance, Black Gotham Experience, ONX Studio (NEW INC/Onassis Foundation), Lenape Center, National Museum of the American Indian, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Martha Harlan.

Image from Cameron Kostopoulos, “I Will Defy You Until My Dying Breath”

(Preview) “I Will Defy You Until My Dying Breath" by Cameron Kostopoulos

VR Experience

"I Will Defy You Until My Dying Breath" is a haptic virtual reality experience that tells the harrowing story of a transgender survivor of electroshock conversion therapy. Through the use of wearable haptic vests, sleeves, and gloves, the experience enables users to physically connect with the narrator's heartbeat, her breath, and the tremors of her electrocution. This deeply empathetic narrative highlights her resilience and defiance against attempts to 'cure' her identity, ultimately underscoring the profound strength of the human spirit in the face of dehumanizing treatment. This is an exclusive sneak peek of a work-in-progress. The full version will debut later in 2024.

Additional Credits:
Created, Directed, & Produced by Cameron Kostopoulos

Image from Kevin Peter He, “Doors We Open”

(Preview) “Doors We Open” by Kevin Peter He

Interactive Short Film Installation

“Doors We Open” is an interactive film that explores the relationship of an estranged father and daughter struggling to connect over shared trauma.The screen-based experience alternates between live action film and 3D gameplay to observe their dynamic and examine what they each hold beneath the surface. The live action scenes depict reality, centering around the present relationship between father and daughter and the cultural nuances of conversation, while the virtual sequences explore the subconscious mind and glimpses of the memories of our characters. Together, the dichotomy of mediums become a metaphor for how we present ourselves to family versus how we suppress our internal reflections.

Additional Credits:
Creators: Kevin Peter He & Jessica Shen
Director: Kevin Peter He
Writer: Jessica Shen
Producers: David Woon, Ricardo Vilar, Anthony Argento, Lu Zhang
Executive Producers: Winslow Porter, Joyce Keokham, Wesley Chan
Additional Writer: Livia Huang
Cinematography: Isabel Padilla
Production Design: Bethany Yeap
Technical Director: Xuelong Mu
Unreal Engine Developer: Jason Xu
Game Designer: Jason Li
Spatial Designer: Nick Gregg
Composer: Cody Dear
Sound Designer: Elias Jarzombek
Sound Supervisor: Jessica Shen

Technical Supervisor: Todd Bryant
Illustrator: Angie Zou
Associate Producers: Kevin Woon, Zeng Yi
Line Producer: Lu Zhang
Assistant Director: Shane Liao
Gaffer: Rodrigo Obregon
1st AC: Karoline Iversen
Grips: Larry Flores, Rikki Porter
Set Dresser: Jasmine Chang
Hair & Makeup: Emma Ando
Production Assistant: Drew Palmer
Sound Mixer: Dolmar Pedro

Sound Assistant: Samuel Perez

Image from Matt McCorkle, “The Loon”

(Preview) “The Loon” by Matt McCorkle

XR Experience and Art Installation

“The Loon” is an immersive experience, painted in vibrant watercolors, that invites audiences into the poignant reality of an artist and his mother as they navigate the emotional landscape of their loved one’s battle with Alzheimer's. This experience is articulated through an interactive poem drawn from their intimate family memories, medical records, and struggles. Where memories fade, love endures echoing like the haunting call of the loon.

Additional Credits:
Director Matt McCorkle
Key Collaborator Pamela McCorkle
Key Collaborator Brie Noel Taylor
Creative Producer Jessica Kidd
Paintings by Brie Noel Taylor
Worldbuilding, Sound, and Music by Matt McCorkle
Set Design by Oil House

Image from Michael Stauffer “Groove Catcher”

“Groove Catcher by Vizmoo” by Michael Stauffer

VR Experience

“Groove Catcher” is an innovative VR-based adjunctive movement therapy platform for neurodiverse individuals (including those with autism and ADD/ADHD) for special education and clinical settings. “Groove Catcher” provides engaging movement-based interventions critical to improving success in school and everyday life, including for self-regulation, OT-based motor skills, and supporting mirroring and attunement skills critical for social engagement. It's based on a fun, engaging rhythm game filled with music and dance, with interventions designed by dance, occupational, and music therapists.

Additional Credits:

Design: Michael Stauffer, Karen DeHavenDesign: Michael Stauffer, Karen DeHaven

Development: Michael Stauffer, Jose Contreras, Mariano Merchante

Image from Sam Butin, “Normandie”

(Preview) “Normandie” by Sam Butin

Video Installation

Normandie is a narrative video game that recreates the final voyage of the SS Normandie in late August of 1939, from the perspective of the Dreifuss family, Swiss-Jews, as they flee the European continent. The ocean liner becomes a fishbowl of conflict for a continent at the brink of war. Chart your own journey through the murky waters of history in this visceral experience that blends the formats of video game and documentary.

Additional Credits:

On The March (Game Studio)
Creative Director: Sam Butin
Tech & Design Director: Aaron Freedman
Art Director: Angela Vanden Tak
Producer: Nicolas Escarpentier

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