IMMERSIVE
IMPACT
___REVIEW
issue 2
Who is this for?
the
Access Illusion of XR
Original artwork by Samantha Bendix. Incorporated images by Timothy Braun, Sarah Wolozin, and Adele Keane, used with permission.
issue 2
The Immersive Impact Review is a hybrid journalistic and academic magazine examining immersive media’s strive for social impact. This second issue, “Who is this for? The Access Illusion of XR,” explores how XR might become more inclusive. This collection of personal and well-researched essays shed light on how concepts such as creative villages, audience hospitality, third spaces, and right-sized funding hoops will make XR more accessible. Enjoy.
Access Illusion of XR
invitation
practice & process
case study
Review editors introduce the articles and the surprising connections between them.
invitation
Michael is the managing editor of the Review and founder of Walking Cinema. Amy is a founding editor of the Review and a Lecturer in Comparative Media Studies and Writing at MIT.
Image Credit: Danielle Giroux
Notes from the Field
Rather listen to the articles?
A seasoned XR creator confronts the illusion of “good” data from audience surveys.
practice & process
May Abdalla is the CEO and Creative Director of Anagram immersive studio.
Anagram 2026
How the art of audience hospitality can combat the FOMO created by completionists.
provocation
Timothy Braun is an immersive playwright and Professor of Creative Writing at St. Edward’s University.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, NY. May 15th, 2026. Photo by author.
How can interdependence help us form new models for producing and experiencing immersive for impact?
practice & process
Scarlett Kim is a director and producer working at the intersection of live performance and immersive media.
Still from BEASTS: a surreal imagining of my grandmother’s kitchen, where a child version of myself turns into a million toads, built in Unreal Engine.
The lead producer behind MANIFEST--a large-scale cultural project that engages with the European memory of the transatlantic slave trade--wonders whether audience access is restricted before the project is fully realized.
case study
Matias K. Seidler is Senior Consultant at University College Copenhagen (KP), working on AI and technology in education, funding and partnerships.
Manifest Final Exhibition - Nantes 2022
the Immersive Impact Review is
proudly supported by
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute is a philanthropic organization founded by Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt dedicated to helping creators and nonprofit leaders use extended reality to imagine and build a more connected, just, and compassionate world. Agog operates as a field builder and creative partner, supporting immersive storytellers whose work addresses urgent social and environmental challenges.
Agog supports the Immersive Impact Review in expanding access to immersive media for social good, pairing approachable storytelling with deeper exploration of the field.
The Immersive Impact Review is published by the Immersive Experience Alliance (IXA), a collective of educators and creative leaders advancing immersive media production, research, and education. Founded in 2024, IXA fosters cross-institutional collaboration in XR, uniting creative practice and applied research to address real-world challenges.
Founding members include:
The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), Walking Cinema, the College of Media, Communication and Information (CU Boulder), the Texas Immersive Institute (UT Austin), Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts / MIX Center, the Creative Media Industries Institute (Georgia State University), and the Immersive Media Design Program (University of Maryland).
