ÅTERFÖDELSEN // REBIRTH – XTREME's MUNCH use case comes to life in Oslo

On 15-16 May 2026, a big XTREME milestone was finalised: a final outcome of an intensive collaborative R&D process was concluded at MUNCH in Oslo.

ÅTERFÖDELSEN // REBIRTH is a room-scale extended reality installation by Silvana Imam and Paula Strunden, commissioned by MUNCH for the XTREME EU Horizon Europe research project. The work combines advanced XR technology, 4DSOUND spatial audio, and Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.

Structured in three acts – Birth, Love, and Death/Rebirth – the work brings together virtual reality, spatial audio, tactile materials, and real-world environment into a single, unified artistic experience. Visitors enter the Festsal at MUNCH individually, equipped with a mixed-reality headset, and are guided through a merged physical and digital environment by a member of the MUNCH Youth Collective, enveloped in a spatial soundscape built on the 4DSOUND system.

Drawing on Silvana Imam’s poetry, music, and performance practice and Paula Strunden’s expertise in XR design and spatial narrative, the work takes audiences on a journey from chaos and anxiety to intimacy and warmth –described by the artists as “an espresso shot of life”: compressed, intense, and bodily.

Presented as a research prototype, the experience sits at the intersection of artistic practice and scientific inquiry. Following each session, visitors were invited to contribute to the XTREME project’s ongoing research into human-computer interaction, audience experience, and immersive XR technologies.

Huge congratulations and gratitude to everyone who made this possible:

✦ Commissioned artists:
Silvana Imam – Lead Artist on poetry, sound and music
Paula Strunden – Lead Artist on immersive experience, spatial narrative and visual world

✦ Creative & concept team
Nisj (conceptual sound artist & composer) | Marijn Cinjee (Spatial Sound Artist, 4DSOUND) | Casimir Geelhoed (Developer & Spatial Designer, 4DSOUND) | Julie L. Parisi (Creative Producer, MUNCH) | Awo Mahamoud Abdulqadir (Community Engagement Lead & Head of MUNCH Youth Collective) | Akif, Suleman, Hodan, Daniel, Maria & Aicha — MUNCH Youth Collective, XR-Experience guides and youth expert panel

✦ XR technology
Christian Sivertsen (Technical Coordinator, ITU Copenhagen) | Kostas Iliadis: System architecture (BOLT virtual) | Daniel Skaale, Emma Pi Larsen, Peiman Fallahian, Maria Høeberg Holmberg, Simon Max Bloch Lajboschitz (KHORA) |Yannis Parcharidis, Sakis Rogas: XTREME platform (BOLT Virtual)

✦ XTREME research team
Justyna Starostka, Anders Sundnes Løvlie, Christian Sivertsen (IT University of Copenhagen)
Paul Tennent, Pat Brundell, Emily Trappen, Glenn McGarry (University of Nottingham)

✦ XTREME Project
Paul Tennent Integration Work Package Leader (University of Nottingham)
Justyna Starostka Project & Communication Manager (IT University of Copenhagen)
Sami S. Brandt Project Coordinator (IT University of Copenhagen)

Read more about the use case here.

Photo credits:

Adrian Kirkerud: Photo of the artists, 2026
Blindt AS: Pictures from the experience, 2026, MUNCH Oslo
Silvana Imam & Paula Strunden, Återfödelsen / Rebirth, VR Experience Visuals and Drawings by Paula Strunden, 2026, MUNCH Oslo