Mezo: Multifaceted Storytelling

Over Coffee® | Stories and Resources from the Intersection of Art and Science | Exploring How to Make STEAM Work For You

(Photo by Maya Dondonyan, and used with permission.) Mezo towered over the show floor at VRLA 2018. Its twenty-foot temple was the centerpiece of the exhibition. Making its debut at VRLA, Mezo was an art installation, a mixed-reality experience, and an hour-long performance, combining augmented reality, lasers, effects and dancers. But, it's also much more than that. (Photo by Maya Dondonyan, and used with permission.) Christian Falstrup is the creative director and executive producer of Mezo. He is also the co-founder of VRLA, which is the world's largest immersive technology festival. And while the line of attendees waiting to experience Mezo twined around the show floor, Christian's vision goes far beyond providing a memorable show. VRLA 2018 was just the beginning. Christian's vision extends beyond a performance experience, to the ways attendees can change the physical world for a better future. Christian talked about his creative background, the story of Mezo and what's next! On this edition of Over Coffee®, you will hear: How Christian first became involved with immersive technology and world-building; The story of Mezo, and how it illustrates the creative process of world building; The narrative Christian and his team developed, and the ways in which it's a metaphor for our current world and future; How the technology interweaves with various events of this particular interactive experience; The biggest challenges Christian and his team encountered, on this particular project; The biggest lesson Christian learned, while working to make his creative vision a reality; Ways in which "Mezo" will be expanding in the future, as Christian says that "VRLA only scratched the surface"; A nonprofit resource which Christian would recommend to fellow virtual-reality creators; How participants who plant "virtual trees", in the course of the Mezo experience, are actually helping the ecosystem; And a hint at a way in which this action will be even more closely interwoven, in the future!