EDGE

Empowering Game Design Education

Video available: Mud in the Machine — Making the Most of Your Next VR Larp

,

Sarah Lynne Bowman

The video and captions are now available for “Mud in the Machine: Making the Most of Your Next VR Larp” by Josephine Rydberg! Stay tuned for more events from the Transformative Play Initiative and the Erasmus+ EDGE project.

Click here to watch the video.

Description:

This lecture provides an introduction to larping in virtual reality. Josephine Rydberg will share her practice-based research focusing on embodiment and improv techniques to promote a Nordic larp playstyle. VR Larp is an intriguing method for to telling human stories in a digital environment. We will explore existing infrastructure and different player communities; the relationship between players and audiences; and some some suggestions for strategies to promote nuanced play. We will then take a look at some posthuman thoughts about stories that matter, as well as some affordances of being a cyborg.

Let’s tell (post-)human stories that matter and pour mud into the machine!

Presenter bio:

Josephine Rydberg is a Ph.D. candidate at Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH). Her interests revolves around the entanglement of linear narratives and participatory creative actions, including finding best practices for adapting larp designs to a virtual environment. Her research project Dramaturgy for Participatory Practices explores examples from larp and social VR.  Rydberg has held a position as a crossmedia developer for the County Council of Gävleborg (Region Gävleborg) since 2014, and has developed a number of innovative projects mixing storytelling and new technology. Current projects include: VR & World Heritage, Games Culture, and the Storytech conference. Rydberg has been a larper since the early ’90s and was one of the founding members of Gothenberg’s first larp society. She holds an M.A. in Film & Theatre from the University of Sheffield and M.A.s in film production from the University of Gothenburg (Filmhögskolan, Göteborgs Universitet) and Stockholm Academy of the Arts (Dramatiska Institutet).
The presenter is a volunteer for Erasmus EDGE, a joint Higher Education Cooperation Partnership project between Uppsala University, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Dragons’ Nest, Chaos League, and Avalon Larp Studio.