SIGNALS EXHIBITION

At Signals 2024, art and technology converged to expand the boundaries of storytelling, creativity, and human experience.

In a time when creativity and technology were often seen in tension, 2024’s theme, Re-imagining Creativity with AI, aimed to spark conversations on how disruptive technologies could amplify human expression rather than replace it.

At the heart of this year’s expo are the questions: How can AI empower us as storytellers, makers, and dreamers? We invite visitors to ponder the ethical, emotional, and creative implications of AI, as well as its impact on film, gaming, and beyond.

This year’s lineup is especially significant, featuring a diverse range of creatives—from world-class video game developers to experimental film-makers and Indigenous artists who are using technology to revitalize and reimagine cultural narratives.

Additionally, many curated projects use relatively accessible tools to create profound immersive experiences. By focusing on practical yet innovative technologies, Signals fosters a platform where creators, regardless of scale, can leverage tech to tell transformative stories without needing the resources of large studios.

All of these works challenge us to think critically about the future of art and technology, while offering glimpses of what is possible when innovation is deeply intertwined with cultural wisdom and storytelling.

We look forward to sharing this immersive journey with you, and hope that Signals 2024 leaves you inspired, challenged, and connected to the evolving landscape of creative technology.

Sincerely,

Loretta Sarah Todd

IM4 Labs

Loretta Sarah Todd is a renowned filmmaker and the creative director of an Indigenous XR lab, IM4 Lab. Known for her innovative approach, she leverages her extensive experience in crafting narratives and exploring the intersection of technology and Indigenous cultural expression. Her first dramatic feature, Monkey Beach, based on the iconic novel by Eden Robinson, was screened at TIFF and has won over 25 awards including all 6 drama awards at the American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco). Ms. Todd also creates games, apps and children’s programming including Coyote Science, a series about Indigenous science and technology.

Debi Wong

re:Naissance

Debi Wong is an award-winning XR producer, creative director, and multidisciplinary artist. She is the Founding Artistic Director of re-Opera in Vancouver and co-executive producer of Signals Creative Technology Expo at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Her notable projects include The Dark (CIMA Bold Award Winner, SXSW XR Selection) and Live From The Underworld (Aurea XR Award). Recently, she performed at TED 2023 as the Solar Ambassador in K Allado McDowell’s AI opera. Wong was named one of the world’s 100 most influential experiential designers by XP Land’s XLIST.

Loc Dao

DigiBC

Loc Dao is the Executive Director of DigiBC – the Creative Technology Association of BC representing the video game, animation, VFX, XR/immersive sectors. Loc was the first Chief Digital Officer for the NFB and has advised the Government of Canada on digital policy, the Canada Media Fund on digital media strategies, and the Province of BC most recently leading the first sectoral talent and growth strategy for Creative Technology in BC. Previously, Loc co-founded digital studios at CBC and the National Film Board, pioneering interactive and immersive storytelling recognized globally.

The 2024 Signals Exhibition was our annual showcase of innovative storytelling in video games, immersive, virtual and augmented reality, virtual production and AI from top Canadian and Indigenous artists.

During exhibition hours, audiences stepped inside immersive digital worlds, tested new video games, and connected to new artists and cultures by exploring the 20+ experiences at our newly transformed warehouse in False Creek Flats.

 

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Some highly anticipated exhibits for 2024 included:

  • sumaxatkʷ (huckleberry), a work by Syilx Nation artist and filmmaker Tracey Kim Bonneau. This interactive and immersive video installation allowed visitors to virtually pick huckleberries, interacting to learn nsyilxcən words.
  • Point Of Reflection by Trevor Twells, a meditation on identity, race, confrontation and transformation, where audiences engaged in delayed video conversation with themselves.
  • Protopica by Will Selviz and Manuel Sainsily, an interactive adventure that began by putting on an EEG headset and immersing oneself in a world of pulsating brain wave visualizations. This mesmerizing display seamlessly transitioned into an interactive movie experience that explored each user’s unique understanding of “home”.

Opening Night (Sept 27, 2024)

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The Exhibits

Aexia

Aexia is a platform for creating, sharing and playing VR role-playing games.

AI & Me

Enter the confessional and let AI study you and see how AI imagines its own version of you. We’ve uploaded our lives on social media, why not confess to an AI?

Capitol of Conformity

Set in a retro-futuristic metropolis, the film explores a world where the pursuit of joy has hidden costs.

Delivery Included

Delivery Included is a film that imagines a fictional ad for a puffer jacket, with a playful twist on the term “delivery included.” The film features drone-to-doorstep delivery, even if that doorstep is perched high up in a canyon.

Digital Feast

What was taken can be made anew, the spirits of our ceremony wait for us to take up our lost practices and make new ones as the world opens up into the virtual.

Everyone is Chair

“Everyone Is Chair” is a short film about a woman whose obsession with inflatable chairs leads to a bizarre phenomenon.

Ne Ki Rotiienáon (Their Legacy)

Step into Ne Ki Rotiienáon, an immersive VR journey for Oculus Quest, where you unravel the powerful, untold story of an Indigenous foster child, confronting the haunting legacy of Canada’s residential schools and the fight against cultural erasure.

Nocturnal Fugue

Explore an immersive bat world in this interactive AI project , where social vocalizations are reinterpreted as evocative music set against digital recreations of their natural habitats.

Point of Reflection

Exploring themes of delayed trauma, race, confrontation, and introspection, Point of Reflection gives participants the opportunity to process all that has transpired over the past four years.

Protopica

Protopica is a realm where you can envision future possibilities and explore forgotten pasts.

Robort

With the help of generative AI, artist Nobody & the Computer brings to life their story about Robert and his struggle in a world where robots are integrated heavily into everyday life. Witten by a human and brought to the audience by AI, follow Robert’s story as he attempts to reclaim his passion for music.

sumaxatkʷ (huckleberry)

sumaxatkʷ offers a beautiful prayer song and immersive experience to spark conversations about the beauty and importance of st̓xałq and land.

Untitled Street Fighter Game

The evolution of 2D platform fighting games that enables players to craft their own custom moves within seconds, ensuring every match is a unique, strategic and personalized combat spectacle.

IM4 Day

An inspiring afternoon of connection, curation, and celebration of Indigenous works in XR!

IM4 Lab proudly presented this rare opportunity to meet Co-Founder and Signals’ Co-Curator Loretta Todd, alongside incredible artists Michael Running Wolf and Caroline Old Coyote, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Tracey Kim Bonneau, Kahentawaks Tiewishaw, and Raven John.

Visitors discovered their innovative works and learned about their journeys through talks and a roundtable discussion.

This all-ages event was free and open to everyone! Featuring complimentary tea and pemmican.

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