Belfast XR Festival: Stay Alive, My Son.

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Belfast XR, now in its third year, specialises in curating worldclass immersive technology content that takes the art of storytelling to a new level.

Extended Reality or ‘XR’ is the collective name for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Running on Wednesday February 28 and Thursday 29 at the Black Box, this year’s festival is both for XR enthusiasts and those who haven’t experienced any form of XR in the past.

Appearing at the festival will be the magical VR journey through the work of Catalan architect and designer Antoni Gaudí in Gaudí, The Atelier of the Divine.

The story will take festival goers back to 1926 when, weakened by age and feeling his death approaching, Gaudí invites his new assistants to discover his studio, to understand his vision and complete his work. 

The heart-wrenching voyage of survival Stay Alive My Son is also one of the key events, based on the internationally acclaimed memoirs of Pin Yathay, this immersive 60 minute story thrusts audiences into the shoes of a pained father forced to make the gut-wrenching decision to abandon his six-year-old son to survive during the Cambodian genocide.

The final headline experience will be Eternal, the profound exploration of eternal life, where during this 20 minute experience attendees will step into the realm of eternity with a mesmerising audio journey designed exclusively for one person, in the comfort of their own bed. 

For attendees who purchase tickets for any of the headline events this year they will have exclusive access to three additional free experiences.

Emperor is a 40 minute long captivating virtual reality experience that delves into the mind of a father grappling with aphasia.

Flow is a 15 minute experience where users will be swept away by the winds through what appears to be an ordinary day filled with turbulence.

SEN is also a 15 minute experience where attendees will enter the mystical realm of the traditional Japanese tea room, where they’ll meet SEN, the tea spirit.

The Belfast XR Festival is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It is also supported by the Department for Communities through Northern Ireland Screen, Digital Catapult NI, Future Screens NI and Ulster Screen Academy.

For more information follow Belfast XR Festival on social media or go to belfastxrfestival.com