Step Into A Mesmerising Audio Experience At Belfast XR Festival

Eternal, the profound exploration of eternal life, has been confirmed as one of the unique experiences at this year's Belfast XR Festival.

During this 20 minute experience attendees will step into the realm of eternity with a mesmerising audio journey designed exclusively for one person, in the comfort of their own bed.

As intimate audiences of just two people per time slot climb into a bed in the Black Box Green Room they will delve into a profound exploration of eternal life and contemplate the sacrifices one might make for immortality.

This experience, originally commissioned by the prestigious Bram Stoker Festival, was developed by the creators at DARKFIELD, written by Glen Neath and is performed by Lloyd Hutchinson under the direction David Rosenberg and Glen Neath.

Deepa Mann-Kler, director and curator for Belfast XR Festival added: "I'm so excited that we are able to share Eternal with our audiences this year. This is a very special experience where you will be guided to your own candle lit bed.

"Our staff will be on hand to help you throughout the experience. Darkfield, the company who created Eternal, are magicians of sound. Your heart will race, listening to this story, and you may want to take your headphones off and rip off the duvet.

"Eternal is equally comforting and terrifying. The challenge is to stay until the end, because the rewards are eternal life."

Belfast XR, now in its third year, specialises in curating worldclass immersive technology content that takes the art of storytelling to a new level.

The innovative arts festival which will once again merge technology and art to create a unique virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experience for attendees

Extended Reality or ‘XR' is the collective name for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR is a computer-generated artificial environment with scenes that appear to be real, while AR is a digital overlay onto the real world, which is viewed through your phone or an iPad.

Speaking of the annual Belfast XR Festival, which is an annual gathering for the XR arts - storytelling, visual arts, music, drama, dance, literature and theatre, Deepa said bringing virtual and augmented reality content to new audiences locally is something the team at Belfast XR are passionate about: "I have been working with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) since 2016 with my company Neon. During that time I have been fortunate to visit XR Festivals across the USA and Europe.

"I realised that there are so many incredible stories being told in this medium that audiences in Northern Ireland never get the opportunity to experience. This was my key motivation.

"Our ambition is to create an unmissable annual gathering for XR that inspires storytelling and our passion is to bring the best global virtual and augmented reality content to new local audiences. You don't need to have used a virtual reality headset before, as our team will guide you through the whole process."

Running on Wednesday February 28 and Thursday 29 this year's festival theme is Legacy which will offer attendees the chance to experience world history in captivating ways allowing audiences to step into the past, interact with historical figures, and explore significant events firsthand.

Belfast XR Festival is both for XR enthusiasts and those who haven't experienced any form of XR in the past.

Deepa explained: "The Festival is aimed at 16+ years of age and is open to everyone. You don't need to have experienced AR, VR or any of these types of experiences before. We have an amazing team who will guide you through the whole process from the minute you step into The Black Box.

"I want people to have memorable experiences. I want them to be altered, in a good way. I want them to talk about how it made them feel. I want to increase their appetite to experience more."

The Belfast XR Festival is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It is also supported by the Department for Communities through Northern Ireland Screen, Digital Catapult NI, Future Screens NI and Ulster Screen Academy.

For more information follow Belfast XR Festival on social media or go to belfastxrfestival.com