Q12: Virtual Serenity: The Partnerships Behind the World’s Largest Digital Empathy Engineering Experiment
The week before last, we were part of something special. As part of the WIRED Energy Tech Summit, powered by Octopus Energy, the world’s largest digital empathy engineering experiment — Virtual Serenity — was put on as the conference finale.
Pioneered by Sean Rogg’s Waldorf Project, renowned for designing the world’s most radical (physical) immersive experience series, Virtual Serenity was the initiative’s first digital iteration. Nearly 300 interconnected VR headsets in the same room enabled participants to engage in a reflective, game-like environment with deep audiovisual elements. Through this unique interface, participants were set up to connect with one another in a virtual world with abstract manifestations of the self, yielding what WIRED described as “a mind-merging consciousness experience”. To enhance the experiment, biometric sensors and thermal cameras were leveraged, providing valuable insights into how participants connected in this initial realization of a strongly interconnected world within the metaverse.
Virtual Serenity in action at Kraftwerk Berlin (1).
This was a true world-first in immersive, location-based entertainment and digital empathy engineering. What made it extra special to us at FuzeQube is that it was all brought to life through two incredible teams that we connected. Once we brought together our friends at XRE with Sean’s team at the Waldorf Project, they got right to building what turned out to be a groundbreaking achievement in spatial computing — and all with limited resources and time, which of course made the challenge even more potent yet surmountable by teams of such quality and execution intelligence.
The collaboration, the individuals involved, and the volunteers who supported the creation of Virtual Serenity are a testament to what we do best — engineering partnerships that have the potential to take meaningful innovation to new heights.
Virtual Serenity is only at its inception, and so the experience did not go without its share of challenges — software, hardware, and logistics. Nonetheless, the experience of pulling it off for the first time has been invaluable, and we are already preparing to go even bigger and better for future editions.
Virtual Serenity in action at Kraftwerk Berlin (2).
To make that possible, and to realize the full potential of Virtual Serenity, a set of core challenges must be addressed:
Further Empirical Validation: One of the key strengths of Virtual Serenity is that it is backed by Sean Rogg’s track record of having leveraged the scientific method to validate his work — including with digital experiences through his most recent venture, Awen. We aim to continue this trajectory for Virtual Serenity, and collaboration with the research community will be crucial to gather data and feedback. This will allow for long-term empirical validation, beyond the initial studies already performed at the London School of Economics Behavioral Science Lab. So, if you’re a researcher interested in contributing, we encourage you to reach out.
Growth Partnerships and Collaborations: In the coming months, Virtual Serenity will be staged at new venues, where the ambition is to go bigger and better. For that, additional core partnerships are required — covering areas such as hardware, software, biometrics, research, funding, and event organization. We are actively seeking these collaborations to push the boundaries of digital empathy engineering and counteract the isolating effects of digital, immersive technologies.
It’s worth repeating — Virtual Serenity is only at the start of its journey. Partnerships have been key to making the first iteration a reality, and they will be equally crucial for the growth and development of the project over time. If you believe there is a role for you or your organization to play in this pioneering initiative, or if you believe we can help you with partnerships for a separate engagement — don’t hesitate to reach out!
Bardia Bijani
Managing Partner, FuzeQube Group
