research: Seminar
Who is here when I am here?
Michel Reilhac
One of the fundamental paradigm shifts brought about by spending parts of our lives in the metaverse is the relativity of identity.
Until recently, we were born a certain way, and that way had to be our way for life. Very few people questioned nature's choice, and even today people who transition from one gender to another, or change their appearance through radical body modifications, are a small minority.
Designing or choosing our avatars to operate in the giving us agency in deciding who we are and how often we want to change our immersed identities. Being who we are becomes a simple matter of
wardrobe... apparently...
Of course, things are not that simple, as we will interact with others in the metaverse through multilayered and complex interactions involving our IRL psychology and emotions as real people. While others in the metaverse will see us as beings made up of what we think and what we choose to show.
There is a very complex dynamic that is triggered when we become our avatars. Instead of being someone else, which is a powerful liberating feeling, we may actually be exploring ways of becoming more complex individuals, where the layers of fiction and physical reality intertwine in ways unknow and with mysterious effects on who we really are…
Biography
Michel Reilhac
Michel Reilhac is a writer and producer of interactive storytelling and virtual reality. Since 2016, he is the founder and curator of the official international competition Venice VR for the Venice International Film Festival. Since the beginning of 2013 he is also co-founder and director of studies of the Cinema College and the VR College of the Venice Bi-ennale.
Since the beginning of 2017, he has been based in Amsterdam and since the end of 2020 he has been working with Marcel VanDoorn, designer and art director for the creation and production of immersive concepts and experiences. He is a regular speaker, coach and artistic director at numerous international festivals and events related to immersive media and is developing an international residency programme for writers on Lamu Island in Kenya.
research: seminar
Who is here when I am here?
Michel Reilhac
One of the fundamental paradigm shifts brought about by spending parts of our lives in the metaverse is the relativity of identity.
Until recently, we were born a certain way, and that way had to be our way for life. Very few people questioned nature's choice, and even today people who transition from one gender to another, or change their appearance through radical body modifications, are a small minority.
Designing or choosing our avatars to operate in the giving us agency in deciding who we are and how often we want to change our immersed identities. Being who we are becomes a simple matter of
wardrobe... apparently...
Of course, things are not that simple, as we will interact with others in the metaverse through multilayered and complex interactions involving our IRL psychology and emotions as real people. While others in the metaverse will see us as beings made up of what we think and what we choose to show.
There is a very complex dynamic that is triggered when we become our avatars. Instead of being someone else, which is a powerful liberating feeling, we may actually be exploring ways of becoming more complex individuals, where the layers of fiction and physical reality intertwine in ways unknow and with mysterious effects on who we really are…