In a time of deepfakes, conspiracy theories, and AI-driven writing and social networking scams, we are surrounded by manipulative and deceptive technologies that, in the wrong hands, could constitute an existential threat to our society. Project Immerse will apply a learning methodology the team has called “attract and educate” to create an immersive educational experience using existing technologies, specifically the Miro collaborative platform and Zoom, to tell stories featuring these malicious techniques. Building an anthology series akin to Black Mirror, the project will create “episodes” that deal with the ways misinformation manifests on the internet, drawn out to their potential dramatic and powerful conclusions. Each episode will be a standalone piece of entertainment built in web native technologies, but at the end of each episode Project Immerse takes users behind the scenes and gives them access to the actual tools to play with on their own.

Status: World Premiere at Mozilla Fest, International Premiere at CPH:DOX, Prototype showing at DEF CON

Type of Project: Immersive Storytelling + Limited Series + Digital Literacy

My Role: Co-creator, Director, Experience Designer, Co-Producer

Collaborators: Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab, Andrew Saltzman Institute of War & Peace, Teacher’s College Creative Technology Program

Supported by: The Brown Institute for Media Innovation and the Hewlett Foundation

Stats: The project is a 60 minute immersive experience for upwards of a hundred participants that takes place within Zoom and Miro.

Examples of deepfake – dialog, voice over, music, images and video. 90% of Project Immerse is created by an AI.