Placeholder was a Virtual Reality project produced by Interval Research Corporation and The Banff Centre, and directed by Brenda Laurel and Rachel Strickland, which explored a new paradigm for narrative action in virtual environments. The geography of Placeholder took inspiration from three actual locations in the Banff National Park - a cave, a waterfall, and a formation of weathered earthern spires overlooking a river. Three-dimensional videographic scene elements, spatialized sounds and voices, and embodiment as petroglyphic spirit animals were employed to construct a composite landscape that could be visited concurrently by two physically remote participants wearing head-mounted displays, who were guided by a disembodied "Voice of the Goddess" as they walked about, conversed, used both hands to touch and move virtual objects, and recorded fragments of their own narratives in the three worlds.

This multi-media archive documents the Placeholder project - follow the links above and below to learn more about Placeholder.

Credits
Papers Movies Sounds Images