The Gyre

Project partners: Field Studio, University of Leeds

Field, a creative studio based in Sheffield, has produced an eXtended Reality (XR) installation, building a play along web app experience that incorporates projection mapping to explore the ‘hidden’ pollution of digital consumption.

The Gyre is an immersive narrative experience that explores our digital consumption using the metaphorical concept of the gyre, a phenomenon where marine pollution forms a swirling ‘garbage vortex’ in the oceans.

The Gyre uses data compiled from users’ online habits to tell the story of the invisible metadata that we rely upon every day, and how the imprint of our digital world is as impactful as our physical world. 

By relating the narrative experience to users’ everyday lives, the project aims to create agency and an emotive connection with users’ own stories. Visualising the impact of digital behaviours encourages users to engage with different narratives around climate change and make adjustments in their daily lives.

The Gyre is one of three projects funded through the XR Stories Climate Change Challenge. Each project received research and development funding to explore how immersive storytelling and technology can be used to address key climate change topics and shape the climate change narrative. 

Categories: Technology