At the New Frontier Gallery, all VR / AR / mixed media exhibitions were on display as a work of art. Approaching an individual piece provides an explanation, as well as the requirements for viewing it. Some experiences, such as 4 feet tall VR, that explores the school sexual awakening of a wheelchair user, are accessible only with headphones. But many others, like the meditative 7 sounds, can be accessed with a pair of headphones.
If you’re visiting the New Frontier Gallery in RV, you can also peek over the walls to see the Earth spinning below you. And like an Easter Egg, you can jump to the International Space Station from a distance. There you can see Space explorers: the ISS experience, which was developed by VR Felix & Paul.
Overall, Sundance has 14 New Frontier exhibitions this year. This is less than half of what appeared last year, a sign that some creators are not ready to embrace a virtual festival. For viewers, however, the virtual reality platform helps a lot to make Sundance more accessible.