(NO) FUTURE
We embarked on this project as a team of five students from the Utrecht School of the Arts: Lisa van den Brakel, Zac Chapman, Job Elterink, Fleur Smakman and Simone van Rookhuizen. Drawing upon our diverse backgrounds in media and design, we united our talents to embark on a creative journey aimed at crafting an interactive installation tailored specifically for young adults aged 18 to 25.
Our project, "No Future," is an immersive interactive performance meticulously designed to illuminate the burgeoning influence of the metaverse within everyday households. Through an engaging interactive game, our primary objective is to cultivate awareness among young individuals, enabling them to grasp the profound impact of this emerging metaverse on their lives.
You find yourself at a job assignment one Friday afternoon, grinding as a freelancer for MetaCare to make ends meet. The room you step into resembles a chaotic living space, neglected and cluttered over time. On the couch, a man engrossed in a virtual reality (VR) experience pays no attention as you enter.
This narrative unfolds in a future where the Metaverse has taken center stage in daily life, with some individuals becoming deeply ensnared within its digital realm, struggling to reconnect with the tangible world. The man on the couch serves as a poignant example of this phenomenon, representing those trapped in this virtual escape. Moreover, the chasm between the affluent and the less fortunate has widened considerably.
MetaCare, the company you work for, specializes in restoring living spaces to a habitable state after clients return from their Metaverse adventures. Your duties involve sorting laundry, tidying up the space, and tending to the neglected plants. While it may not be your dream job, it keeps food on the table.
As you arrive late for your assignment, you are promptly reminded by POD, an interactive voice that communicates directly with the player. Amid your cleaning and searching tasks, intermittent audio messages fill the room, featuring news updates and advertisements that provide valuable insights into the Metaverse's latest developments and its current societal impact.
Pod makes an initial attempt to rouse the man from his VR immersion, but her efforts prove futile. Turning to you for assistance, she implores you to wake him up. In response, the man stirs, clearly irritated by the disturbance.
As the interaction unfolds, Pod shares a surprising revelation with you—she experiences a profound sense of loneliness, a result of being replaced by the homeowner's immersion in the Metaverse. This revelation sparks a conversation between you and Pod, delving into the man's life before the allure of the Metaverse consumed him.
However, when you attempt to engage the man with questions about his pre-Metaverse life, his responses are curt and gruff, signaling his reluctance to confront the realities he left behind.
FEEDBACK
"You give great insight into your learning journey and how you left your comfort zone, especially in the second project, when you worked in three and had to make tough design decisions. You were not only always present in the minor, but you were always there with a smile and positive attitude, even when things were stressful and demanding. Your two projects are very diverse and show how you learned to see the different use cases of interactive storytelling, one aspect you focused on was scriptwriting which worked out well. You dared to venture into the unknown and you came back successful! Congratulations on this impressive learning journey!"