Abstract

Full Paper. Theme: Social Experiences Subtheme: Symbiotic Imaginaries

This essay describes the process and background of the augmented reality documentary Welcome To The Metaverse. The authors situate themselves as research-creation practitioners and ethnographers exploring immersive documentaries as a method for increasing critical data literacy, a public-facing discipline concerned with pedagogical approaches to understanding power structures embedded in artificial intelligence and big data systems.

• Brett Gaylor (CA) is an interactive media producer and researcher. His works such as The Internet of Everything, Rip! A Remix Manifesto, Discriminator, OK Google and Do Not Track explore how to help everyday people critically engage with the Internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Gaylor
• Kate Hennessy is an Associate Professor specialised in Media at Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Vancouver, Canada. As the director of the Making Culture Lab, her work uses collaborative, feminist, and decolonial methodologies to explore the impacts of new memory infrastructures and cultural practices of media, museums, and archives.