The first test of the MUNCH prototype created by the commissioned artists Silvana Imam and Paula Strunden, was tested on site in Oslo, October 2025.
The artwork blends spatial sound, immersive XR, and collaborative storytelling to prototype an impactful, shared artistic experience across remote locations.
This was the first time the artists and the team were able to with the holistic experience in the festival hall at MUNCH. The session involved building and testing the spatial sound components in relation to the VR experience and the overall artistic vision. We also explored the spatial design of the work to develop a cohesive XR universe with the audience at its centre.
In addition to experimenting with the technical set-up and concepts for remote participation, we invited a small group of young adults to test and give feedback on the first part of the experience. These insights will inform the further development of the project, with the next iteration scheduled to be presented at MUNCH in May 2026.
The creative team at the MUNCH production is:
- Silvana Imam – acclaimed rapper, poet and artist
- Paula Strunden – renowned XR artist
- Nisj – acclaimed interdisciplinary producer, writer and composer
- Marijn Cinjee – spatial sound composer, co-lead the sound experiments, offering technical and artistic insight into spatial sound design (4DSOUND)
- Christian Sivertsen – technical coordinator and creative tech partner for the MUNCH case (ITU)
- Julie L. Parisi – creative producer and responsible for audience experience (MUNCH)
- Awo Abdulqadir — responsible for audience experience and the community engagement (MUNCH)
Other people who were involved in the prototyping at MUNCH:
- MUNCH youth collective
- Sound and light engineers and producers (MUNCH)
- Daniel Skaale – Content design (KHORA)
- Emma Pi Larsen – CG Artist (KHORA)
- Kostas Iliadis – Game developer for multi-user interaction in XR (Bolt Virtual)
- Paul Tennent – Integration Work Package Leader (University of Nottingham)
- Justyna Starostka – XTREME project and communication manager (ITU)
Foto credit: Blindt
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