Attending Nonny de la Pena’s ‘The Body is Along for the Ride’ lecture was a rare chance to hear directly from someone whose work has shaped my academic thinking. Her approach to immersive storytelling is inspiring, and themes discussed like the duality of presence and embodied digital rhetoric weren’t just theoretical, they were presented as tools for crafting participatory, lived narratives. The LA Fires reconstruction using Gaussian splatting was particularly compelling, showing how spatial documentation can archive real-world trauma with nuance and dimensionality.
Before the lecture, I dropped into IDA XR Studio’s Beyond the Build, a vibrant gathering spotlighting the diverse talent driving immersive innovation. The atmosphere was energetic and collaborative, with familiar faces and sector voices exchanging ideas on inclusive design, spatial computing, and the intersection of craft and code. It was a welcome reminder that XR is powered not just by tech, but by cross-disciplinary vision.