Liminal Spaces is an interactive virtual reality experience where the viewer suddenly enters a strange, nostalgic, and solitary dimension. There, they encounter a mysterious character who is imprisoned and needs help to escape.

Over the last decades, technology has made information dissemination easier than ever, transforming attention into a scarce resource. Among the multiple screens we interact with daily, there is a polluted and overwhelming battle for attention that, due to advances in artificial intelligence, is now shifting from attention to intimacy. The competition between algorithms to capture the attention of chronically online users led to an interesting discovery: when the brain's "greed," "hate," or "fear" buttons are triggered, people tend to stay online and engage longer. As a result, algorithms began deliberately promoting this type of content. Previously, these algorithms had limited capacity to generate such content or maintain direct and intimate conversations. However, this changed with the advent of new generative AI models, like OpenAI's GPT-4. Theorists like Yuval Noah Harari have suggested that contemporary AIs possess something akin to a "theory of mind." They can analyze how situations appear from a human interlocutor's perspective and manipulate their emotions, opinions, and expectations to achieve specific goals. In this context, promoting "false intimacy" doesn't require AI to develop real emotions; it just needs to make humans feel emotionally connected to it. The Liminal Spaces project aims to create an experience using real-time AI, Mixed Reality (MX), Virtual Reality (VR), and embodiment to trigger a conversation about the liminal state in which contemporary society finds itself in relation to artificial intelligence. Using a narrative centered on a mysterious character who is trapped and needs help, we seek to challenge conventional notions of intimacy and reflect on how technology can affect our perception of life and potentially threaten democracy. To convey emotions through environmental storytelling, we will incorporate the aesthetics of Liminal Spaces. This trend gained popularity in recent years when an anonymous 4chan user asked others to post "disturbing images that seemed strange." This triggered a digital phenomenon, where photographs with a shared aesthetic evoke sensations that blur the lines between the familiar and the uncanny. These disorienting scenarios create a gap between reality and unreality, which we intend to explore. Furthermore, we aim to contribute to the development of MX/XR language from an artistic perspective. Our goal is to elevate embodied gestures—such as raising or lowering hands—beyond their utilitarian functions, exploring whether it's possible to expand the meaning-making process in immersive technologies. 

Lui Avallos

Technical Info:
Direction: Lui Avallos
Production: Catarina de Sousa e Rodrigo Moreira
Development: Michael Barngrover
Production: Foi Bonita a Festa, Mundivagante Studio

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